


Long story short, it was the wrong guy

by WishaDream



Series: Supercorp RomCom [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), supercorp - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, I hope by the end of it you’re like i can’t wait to see how this scene plays out from lena’s side, Lena is a lawyer, POV Alternating, and also the girl off jurassic world, and i loved how her character liked fixing things, and i wished they'd do more with it, and knew all this stuff about different architecture and design, and looking up stuff about it isn't enough, and this idea grew from that, being with the wrong person, but i still included it so this lena is like a combo lena luthor and that other character, but now i understand why i don't know what i'm talking about as lena, but that's not important, had to make some T-swift references with the new album out, i never saw the movie but i heard about her and hated what happened to her, i watched that christmas movie with katie mcgrath, just had to do rewrites, kara is cute bike messenger she just happens to keep running into, like its fate or something, not actually in the story since i finished this before the album came out, romcom, sadly he's starting to realize she's not the girl for him, setting things up for a sequel, she's finally engaged to the guy she's dated for four years, so i took the idea of a woman who wasn't good with kids and planning her wedding, so if you also hated what happened to that character think of this as her story retold, they living together and she thinks he's the guy for her, wedding confession, with a happy ending, written like a movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28160241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: In Romcoms the current girlfriend is always portrayed as a child hating monster, but what if it's just a matter of perspective?In this story both sides will be portrayed with one side being about Eric Prince meeting a new employee, Ariel Tritton, who shows him a whole aspect of his life he hadn't realized he'd been missing.Meanwhile, Eric's Fiancée, Lena Luthor makes plans for their upcoming nuptials while having several encounters with a blonde bike messenger.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Series: Supercorp RomCom [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063004
Comments: 32
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter One Side A

**Author's Note:**

> Have you ever read a story with multiple narrators and there is one that isn't really your favorite, but you know you have to get through it to get to the parts of the story you do like. And you can't skip the other part because it sets up the next chapters so you'd be missing out on that narrative. Anyway, this is like that. Hopefully it will be worth it.
> 
> Tl;dr eric's story has necessary narration elements to make Lena's side just that much better.

Ariel rushed to get things ready with Michael and Madison.

Michael was sulking, as usual, as he sat at the table, arms folded, his cereal getting soggy in front of him.

The young woman let out a tired sigh as she told him, “I know this is hard on all of us, starting at a new school in a new city, but this is going to be good for us. I promise.”

“I don’t know why we had to move here. The school year is almost over,” grumbled Michael, “What’s even the point?”

She let out a sympathetic sigh, “I know this is hard, Michael. But this is a good job opportunity and I know you’ll do just fine.”

The boy made a sarcastic comment under his breath she couldn’t make out as he rolled his eyes.

Behind her she heard something crash as she looked back to find a shattered jelly jar on the ground. Madison looked up with a surprised “oh” face as she cutely said, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Sweetie.”

“Not for your dress,” stated Michael.

She was confused till she turned to look at the back of her dress. Her new dress. The one she had specifically bought for her first day of work.

She took in a breath to center herself then smiled as she said, “It’s okay, Sweetie. I’ll just change. We’ve got time. Michael could you clean that up.”

He let out a disgruntled groan, but shifted off his seat as he moved to do so.

They didn’t really have time, Ariel realized, as they ended up having to rush out of the house, having missed the bus near their home.

“We’re going to have to run to the next stop,” stated Ariel as they all started running.

In their rush she ended up carrying most of the group’s things, Madison’s backpack, Michael’s lunch box, and somehow the little girl had ended up with Ariel’s coffee. She tried to hand over the bag and lunch as they ran, a kind of juggling act as she felt her own bag slipping from her shoulder.

Though the sidewalk was large, wide enough for six people to walk shoulder to shoulder, the little girl started to veer to the side to a couple walking the opposite direction. The man in the couple was looking off to the side as the woman beside him chattered on about some subject that didn’t seem to hold his interest.

Ariel didn’t have time to call out a warning before the little girl crashed into the couple, spilling Ariel’s coffee all over the front of the woman. The woman’s suit was obviously expensive.

Ariel’s suspicions were confirmed by the way the woman’s nostril’s flared as she scowled down at the mess on her front. She could almost hear the words in the woman’s eyes as they flashed over at Ariel, _“Do you know how expensive this is?”_

Beside her, the man covered a laugh as the little girl tried to wipe at the coffee as if wiping away the liquid would get rid of the stain.

Before she could do more damage Ariel grabbed Madison’s hand, pulling her away as she quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry.”

It did not seem to come fast enough as Ariel watched the woman clench her fists as she let out a shriek that made everyone look at her.

“This is *not* happening. I have an important meeting today and I don’t have time to change,” her eyes flashed as she fixed a glare on the little girl.

Madison started to cry.

Michael rolled his eyes as he mumbled under his breath, “Good show, Crocodile.”

Ariel comforted the little girl as the man assured her, “It’s not that big deal.” Then turned a look on the woman like _How could you yell at a child?_

Ariel gave him a grateful smile before kneeling down to Madison’s level as she rubbed her arms, “It’s okay, Sweetie.”

“She’s not really that upset,” stated the man, “She was just surprised. She didn’t mean to yell.” He shot a look back at the woman as if expecting her to confirm his words. The woman’s jaw set before she turned away, not saying another word.

“I’m really sorry,” said Ariel, “I can pay for the dry cleaning.”

The woman looked at her, her jaw flexing as her eyes shifted back to the man who seemed to be prodding her with his eyes for her to let it go.

She let out a frustrated sigh, before stating in a clipped tone, “No. That won’t be necessary.” Pulling out her phone, she stepped away from the group as she started to talk with someone.

The man knelt down in front of the girl who was sniffing as she wiped at the final traces of her tears, “Yeah, it’s okay. It’s just a little coffee. It’s not that big a deal.”

He looked back at the woman on the phone as she peered back at him. While he tried to calm her with his eyes, her eyes flashed like it wasn’t just coffee to her.

The little girl calmed down instantly as she smiled widely at the man, taking his hand as she boldly told him, “You’re handsome,” he *was* good looking with dark hair and tan skin, a Disney Prince in real life, “You should date my aunt.”

She peered back at Ariel who felt her face flush with the attention. The man didn’t seem annoyed by the young girl’s boldness as he laughed good-naturedly. Behind them they heard the other woman let out a derisive snort before turning back to her phone conversation.

It was then Ariel noticed the contents of her bag had spilled onto the sidewalk. Dropping to her knees completely she got to work shoving them back into her bag. As she reached for a file folder she found another hand reach for it at the same time. Looking up she found herself looking into the eyes of the man.

They were dark like the night’s sky and twinkled with amusement as she felt her fingers brush against his hand. A jolt of something passed between them bringing a smile to his mouth. His perfect mouth with lips pink as dahlias. Her own smile flashed for a moment before she looked away shyly.

“We need to go, Eric,” snapped the woman as she put her phone away.

He gave his final apologies as he handed the last fallen item back to Ariel before following the woman.

“Eric,” went Madison in a breathy tone that matched the feeling in Ariel’s heart.

As the couple walked away the woman snapped at Eric, “I don’t know why *you* were apologizing so much when they were the ones that ran into us.”

“Um, school,” went Michael.

Ariel jolted with panic as she recalled how late they were, ‘Come on.”

They started running again. 

_____

The offices of AEG Advertising and Marketing were busy, filled with the sounds of phones ringing and voices talking about various contracts.

Eric Prince was one of the head advertisers. He walked with assurance past the main office area which was filled with cubicles. A few of the occupants looked up, greeting him warmly as he passed.

“You looking forward to the weekend, Eric?” inquired a tall man with a smarmy grin, Enrique Morales. He always looked like he knew a joke about you and relished keeping it to himself.

Eric had never liked the guy, but was polite as he replied, “Oh, you know it.”

“You going to make it to the Family Fun Day?” inquired a woman.

“Isn’t it required?”

The woman laughed, “They say it’s not, but we all know they wouldn’t appreciate it if we weren’t there.”

He smiled warmly before continuing on. His phone buzzed; a text from Lena. He almost wished it was more complaints about the coffee incident, but he knew it was just going to be about wedding stuff. He opened the text, yep, just wedding stuff.

Did she have to send these texts every day? The wedding was still two weeks away.

He looked up just in time to stop himself from running into a young woman. Her head was down, eyes focused on a folder in her hands. He felt her head bump into his chest as she let out a surprised yelp.

Her eyes widened more as she recognized him. His own smile grew as he also recognized the strawberry blonde with the blue-green eyes.

“Coffee girl,” She looked to cringe at the nickname as he added, “Funny almost running into you again. We really need to not make a habit of that.”

“Yeah,” her face scrunched with regret, “I really am sorry about that. I really will pay for the dry cleaning. Just tell your--,” she pulled out the word as if waiting for him to fill in the blank.

“My fiancée, Lena. Yeah, don’t worry about it. She makes enough to pay for her own dry cleaning. Sorry about her reaction, she’s a little preoccupied with this big case involving a corporation. And then there’s all the wedding planning. She’s really become somewhat of a bridezilla.”

“No, I really understand her frustration. I have had my fair share of outfits ruined by Madison’s spills.”

“Still, I hope she wasn’t too upset with how Lena reacted. She doesn’t know how to act around kids. She basically treats them like little adults. I’ve lost count of how many kids she’s made cry.”

“Oh, no. She got over it pretty quickly. Kids are resilient like that.”

He smiled and she smiled back.

“I take it you’re the new hire.” She nodded, “I heard a lot of good things about you. It’s good to have you on the team.”

“It’s good to be here.”

Before she could leave he called after her, “Before we crash into each other again I’d like to buy you some coffee to make up for the one that was spilled.”

“I should be the one buying you coffee.”

“It’s okay. Lena made a bigger deal than she needed. Her assistant got her something else to wear. Just don’t worry about it.”

She smiled again before heading off.

As she walked away two guys came up behind Eric, one resting his chin on the man’s shoulder as he said, “Is that the new hire? She’s hot. In a Rachael Leigh Cook in _She’s All That_ kind of way.”

Eric frowned as he pulled away from the man, “Don’t be like that, Luke. She’s our coworker. You shouldn’t be talking about her that way.”

He gave the guy one last disapproving look before heading back to his office. Being one of the top advertisers he had his own personal office with a large window view of the city below.

As soon as he sat down his cell phone started to ring. Speak of her enough and there she was.

He let out a tired sigh, preparing himself, before answering the call, “Hey Lena, what do you need?”

“I need your help with the reception calligrapher…”

He could almost picture her doing multiple things at once, wedding magazines piled up around her as she snapped at her secretary to get her more colored tabs as she added more things to her list of things they “needed” for the wedding. Before they’d gotten engaged he hadn’t even realized how many things were “needed” to get married.

“Listen, babe, you know this stuff doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is the Bachelor Party and Luke is taking care of that so the rest isn’t really a big deal to me. Just pick what you want.”

Lena’s tone was sharp as she reminded him, “Seriously, this is for *our* wedding.”

He rolled his eyes back as he wondered to himself what part of it was “his” wedding. He didn’tknow why she bothered trying to include him in the decision. Anything he did choose she always eventually vetoed. It was frustrating and he wanted no part of it.

“You know I have my big presentation coming up,” he spun his chair around and around as he reminded her of this, “I don’t have time to worry about this while I’m working on that. The wedding is two weeks away and is really just a small part of our journey.”

She made some argument he didn’t hear as one of his coworkers popped his head in, “Is that the nightmare?”

He frowned as he covered the receiver, “Come on, man, this is my fiancée.”

‘What’s she nagging you about today?”

He shrugged his shoulders with a tired expression, “Flower arrangements or something. I haven’t been listening.”

He tuned back in as she told him, “I’m just asking you to take off some of my load. To make it easier for both of us.”

He let out a long slow sigh as he dropped his head back. His coworker gave him a sympathetic look as Eric told Lena, “Okay fine. I’ll pick a color.”

She started to say something in reply, but he’d already moved the phone away from his ear as he pressed the end call button.

“Ugh, that was a chore.”

The man in the doorway shook his head, “I feel you. You know what a bridezilla bitch Susan became when we were getting married. And, trust me, they don’t get any better after that. She’s still always nagging me about the things I do. I can’t do anything right with her. You sure you want to do this?”

Eric recalled the kind of things Susan nagged the man about: coming home late drunk. Having someone else’s lipstick on his color. Credit card charges to questionable hotlines.

Eric wasn’t like that so Lena wouldn’t have anything to complain about.

Before Eric could reply another man entered the office as he reminded them, “The boss wants everyone in the meeting room.”

____

The boss, a middle aged white man with salt and pepper hair, stood at the head of a table. Along the sides of the table chairs were situated filled with mostly thirty something white men with one or two females scattered among them along with a single black man who occasionally made a funny quip to lighten the mood.

“We all know how big a deal this upcoming presentation is,” stated the boss, “Eric, you are still on it, but I want to pair you with Ariel. Her skill set should help a lot with securing your success.”

Eric looked across the table at Ariel, smiling as he nodded, “Yes, sir.”

“I expect you to put your all into this. I want you to eat, sleep, and dream about this presentation. Whatever it takes, do it, we need to secure this client.”

Before they were dismissed the man reminded them, “And don’t forget the family dinner is this weekend. It’s not required but, come on, let’s be serious, be there and bring your family.”

After they were dismissed Eric hurried to catch up with Ariel.

“The boss is going to want me to catch you up on what I’ve put together so far.”

She frowned as she checked the time, “I have to pick up the kids.”

Eric frowned as he looked back at the boss who was yelling at an intern.

“Why don’t I swing by your place after that? I can catch you up at your house.”

She looked unsure but in the end agreed.

“I’ll see you then.”

He smiled before heading back to his office. 


	2. Chapter One Side B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena's side of things

Lena Luthor talked over wedding plans with her fiancé, Eric Prince. He was distracted, probably thinking about his big presentation. She understood, she had her own big case. The hearing was that morning and it was all she could do to not think about it. To not worry about the sudden change in time. But she also had her wedding coming up in two weeks so she had to think about that on occasion.

She still had so much to prepare for the court case. And not just the one case. Then there was her mother who was constantly calling and texting her about things she needed to change about her wedding plans. Each day she felt like new things were placed on her, piling up around her so that she felt like she might suffocate. One of those things being that Eric wasn’t listening.

Why couldn’t he ever listen?

Up ahead a young woman was running with a teenage boy and little girl. They looked to be running late. She didn’t pay them much mind as the sidewalk they were presently on was wide enough for all of them to walk without crashing into one another. Even so, that’s exactly what happened as Lena felt a hot liquid splash against her front.

Coffee.

All over the front of her white suit.

The white suit she was going to wear to her early morning hearing.

White like her wedding dress she had to be fitted for again because her mother insisted she needed to lose more weight.

That’s when she felt it—a snap as her eyes glared down at the perpetrator.

Just one more thing wrong with the day. First, her assistant had called to let her know the hearing time had been moved up, which meant she’d had to cancel her morning appointment with the calligrapher, which meant she’d have to find someone else to write out the table place cards for the reception.

Her mother wasn’t going to be happy about her dropping the ball on that.

And now this.

*This!*

When she didn’t even have the time to get her own cup of coffee now it was staining the front of her suit. A suit she didn’t even have time to change before heading to court.

“This is not happening,” the words started as a grumble, growing in volume and distress as she told the child, “I have an important meeting today and I don’t have time to change.”

She looked to Eric for help, for some suggestion at what she could do to fix this situation, but he didn’t even seem to notice her as his attention was on the little girl who had just burst into tears. She wished she could just burst into tears like that; maybe it would make her feel better. But adults were expected to have control over their emotions, unlike children. Children could cry and scream in public and people rarely got upset with them about it.

If you did get upset at them you usually got a look like the one Eric was giving her right now. A look of _How could you yell at a child?_

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” soothed the woman who had come with the child.

That was right, it wasn’t the child’s fault, it was this adult’s.

Children were always being blamed in school for being tardy to class, but it was because of parents like this one, ones who couldn’t manage their time well, that kept their kids from making it to class on time.

Okay, that might have been some personal trauma she was feeling there, as she tried not to attach *that* anger to the strawberry blonde in front of her now. Lena didn’t know her circumstances. It wasn’t her right to judge her as a parent. It was because of other people’s judgments that her client that morning was in her current circumstance.

“I’m really sorry about the suit. I can pay for the dry cleaning,” offered the young woman.

Lena felt her jaw clench as it felt to her like the situation had turned against her.

How?

She was the one with spilled coffee on her, but all it took was a little girl crying and suddenly she was the bad guy.

“No. That won’t be necessary.”

She just needed to get away from this situation. Things always went south faster when kids were involved and she did not need an excuse to see this woman again.

But Eric was still apologizing to them for what had happened, like it was their fault for being in the path of the coffee.

Lena pulled out her phone, stepping away from the group as she listened to the line ring before picking up, “Hi, Jodi, I know you already have a lot to do this morning, but I have an emergency situation and need you to pick me up something to wear to the hearing this morning. Anything will work, just something that looks nicer than a coffee stained suit.”

Behind her she heard Eric soothing the little girl as he assured her, “It’s just a little coffee. It’s not that big a deal.”

She let out a snort that got his attention as he shot back a look of _you need to chill._

She felt herself bristle at the look.

Funny how he could show more care to a stranger than his own fiancée. Sure, she might have been letting her stress at the day’s events pile onto this situation, but shouldn’t he have been comforting her instead of this child?

“You’re handsome,” stated the little girl with a bold smile.

Lena let out a huff as she looked off to the side.

It was just so easy for him to play hero in everyone else’s life. To comfort the downtrodden, such as this little girl. But when Lena was upset it was all “You need to calm down. You’re being too loud.” As if her feelings didn’t matter in the least to him.

Even if she was overreacting couldn’t he see that it was only because she was overwhelmed, stressed, and just needed some help?

Some comfort.

Instead it always felt like he was dismissing her feelings, or belittling them. Instead of helping her calm down he had to turn on her, giving his sympathies to everyone else around them.

Looking at the time on her phone, she looked back at the man as she reminded him, “We need to go.”

He gave the little girl one last charming smile. The same smile she had once fallen for back when she was a stranger on the street that actually garnered his attention.

As they walked away she reminded him, “I don’t know why *you* were apologizing so much. They were the ones that ran into us. They should have been apologizing since there was so much sidewalk they could have used to avoid us completely.”

His frown told her to drop it.

Of course.

Calm down.

Drop it.

Conceal.

Don’t feel.

Fine. She would let it go.

Like she always did.

Hopefully this would be the only dark spot in the day. The only coffee stain on the white tapestry that was her life. 

____

But of course Lena was sorely disappointed.

Her assistant, Jodi de la Cruz, met her on the other side of the courthouse metal detectors new suit in hand. It wasn’t as nice as the suit she had been wearing, but it would do.

Lena didn’t actually care if what she wore was designer label or not, that was more her mother’s hang up, but she knew appearance was important when it came to trials.

She gave the young woman a grateful smile as she took the suit, handing over her bag as she started to undress there in the hall as they made their way to the courtroom.

“Have you heard anything about why the hearing was moved up?”

The young woman shook her head, her shoulder length hair swaying along with the movement, “No, Miss Luthor. But I suspect it has something to do with the judge only having this case on the docket for today.”

Lena let out a tired groan as she could feel people giving her curious looks at her changing in the hall, but no one really seemed to care all that much as they had their own situations to worry about.

“I have heard he’s been rushing through things in his old age,” Jodi stood in front of her as Lena pulled the new skirt over the top of her stained pants then took them off underneath, “I wish he would just retire already.”

By the time she was changed they had arrived at the doors to the courtroom. Their client was already waiting outside, giving Lena a strained smile when she saw her.

“Angela,” her greeting was warm as she paused at the door to give her a reassuring smile.

“Is it good for us that the judge moved up the hearing time?”

Lena squeezed her arm as she assured her, “I’ll make it a good thing.”

Inside the courtroom the prosecutor greeted her with one of those passive aggressive smiles. Those “I’m going to look like I’m happy to see you, but my eyes convey the truth that I am not.” Lena countered with her own happy-not happy smiles.

Her mother had taught her well.

Once the judge had arrived he reminded them he did not want to take that long as he let Lena start. Even though she had several written testimonies in favor of her client and various other evidences to support her client the judge was unmoved. Across the room the prosecution wore a cocky smile like he believed he had this trial in the bag. Like he could say two words, close, and still win.

She hated that he was probably right.

When the man did start talking Lena had an immediate reason to call, “Objection!”

The judge looked annoyed, but conceded to her as he reminded her, “Let’s not make a big show of this. Some of us have places to be.”

Her jaw tightened as she felt her nails scrape against the surface of the table as her hand clenched into a fist. Justice was not supposed to have a clock on it.

As she sat back down her eyes drifted to her client who was nervously wringing her hands. Leaning close to Lena, she hesitantly whispered, “It doesn’t look like the judge cares about anything you’ve been saying.”

There were tears in the woman’s eyes and a look of utter hopelessness like everything they were doing that day was going to be for naught.

Lena’s eyes went back to the judge who looked bored as he didn’t even look to be listening to the prosecutor’s statements. It was like he had already formed his opinion and was just waiting for the designated time to run out before he could end things and declare his verdict.

She couldn’t take another moment of it as she stood, “Your honor, I’d like to approach the bench.”

She didn’t wait for him to answer as she started forward, the prosecution hurrying to meet her at the bench as the judge sputtered.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Lena kept her tone even, though she would have liked to scream at the man in that moment, “Your honor, I feel the need to remind you that justice is supposed to be impartial and not come to a trial with any preconceived opinions. And that it is supposed to be listening to the case’s arguments and not constantly checking its watch.”

The judge looked offended at her calling him out. She hated how she became the bad guy when she called people out on their BS when they were the ones doing wrong.

She could see the man’s haunches rising as he growled, “I don’t know what you are trying to imply, defense, but I don’t like it.”

That was it. She felt the snap again as she tersely responded, “Then you get exactly what I am implying,” she turned away as she started walking back to her table, calling back over her shoulder, “We can end the trial here, I will be applying for a new judge. Someone who would rather be sitting there fighting for justice than out on the greens practicing their back swing.”

As she gathered up her things she heard the judge grumble under his breath, “Bitch.”

At the doors of the court she turned to look back, giving him a smug smile and a nod before pushing herself out the doors.

Coming backwards out of the room she started to turn the right way as she came out into the hall, pausing as she almost ran into a person. A young woman with blonde hair and headphones hanging around her neck. She was dressed like a bike messenger with capri yoga pants and layered tank top with shoulder bag hanging at her side.

Lena instantly felt her annoyance flair up as she recalled the incident from that morning.

Hot coffee.

Ruined suit.

Unsympathetic fiancé.

“Watch it!”

The young woman returned her sharp warning with a smile like she’d been yelled at many times before and no longer felt anything from the reaction.

Seeing her chill response caused Lena’s fire to cool to a lump of regret as she recalled how her boyfriend had apologized when he’d been the wronged party.

“Wait, I’m sorry. I was the one at fault. Have a good day.”

She motioned for the young woman to continue her journey down the hall as she waited for her to pass. Once she had, Jodi came out with the client who had started to cry. The assistant was comforting her as she assured her, “Miss Luthor is going to take care of this. Don’t worry.”

Lena nodded as she took her client’s hands, squeezing them reassuringly as she said, “That judge wasn’t going to hear us out. But I’m going to get us someone who will and quickly so that you don’t have to wait a moment longer to see your children.”

The woman smiled gratefully as she wiped at her eyes, “Oh, thank you, Miss Luthor. I’m so glad you took on my case.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you continue to feel that way.”

The woman laughed lightly as Lena and Jodi gave their goodbyes before heading down the hall. Jodi flipped open her tablet as she caught Lena up on the rest of her schedule for the day.

“The boss wants you to call the Henshaws today to discuss their case and what things you are planning to do to ensure their victory.”

Lena’s jaw clenched as she thought about the other client.

While the case she had just been working on was pro bono, the Henshaws were a big client who her company was helping to fight a class action lawsuit that could cost them tens of millions of dollars. That was all it really came down to: making sure the rich family maintained their wealth. Not like Angela’s case where they were fighting to get her kids back. An actual worthy cause with actual consequences. Even if the Henshaws lost their case they would still be uber rich.

Pulling out her phone, she started to dial the number as she grumbled to Jodi, “This really is a waste of my time and talents.”

Though her tone had been dark and moody as soon as the other line picked up it became bright and bubbly as she discussed the trial with the wealthy family. Once the phone call was ended her smile faded back into a disgruntled frown.

“Jodi,” the girl was already ready to take notes as Lena said, “See if you can’t get us a slot with Judge Reinhold for Angela’s case. She’s more sympathetic to these kinds of cases. I really don’t want Angela to have to spend another day without her kids.”

The young woman smiled as she nodded along, “Angela really is lucky to have you working on her case. I feel so bad for her.”

Lena nodded. Before she’d taken the job, Angela’s case had been tossed around the court system with no lawyer stepping up to take her case seriously.

“I know some people are surprised that you are fighting so hard to get someone’s kids back when you don’t really like them, but I’m not surprised. You are the warmest person I know, Miss Luthor.”

Lena let out an amused snort, “You must not know very many people.”

The young woman laughed amiably.

Before she’d met Eric, Lena had only been focused on the work her firm had given her. Mostly work on saving big corporations from having to pay for their crimes against their workers and clients. Then she’d met Eric and her love for him had awakened a desire to do more. One ounce of love and care for one person had opened a floodgate of affection and care for others.

Being together had helped both of them open up their hearts and minds to other things. To pursue things they never would have had the courage to pursue on their own. Together they had grown in so many ways. It wasn’t just enough to be happy with Eric, she wanted to help other people find their own version of happiness.

Lena smiled as she recalled seeing Angela with her kids, the way they had cried and hugged as they waited another day to find out if they could be together again. The memory broke her heart, a heart had been made more aware of other people and their needs.

“And you’re right, just because I don’t want kids doesn’t mean I fault those who do. Just as I have the freedom to not have them, Angela should have the freedom to raise her kids. She is a much more fit mother than some people I know who never once had their kids taken from them.”

As if sensing Lena was thinking of her, she felt her phone vibrate with a call from her mother. She let out a tired sigh as she slid into the waiting town car that would take them back to the corporate offices where she worked.

“Remind me, Jodi, why I have to answer.”

Her assistant frowned sympathetically as she saw the name on the phone, “Because it will be worse for you if she thinks you are ignoring her.”

“Oh yes, that’s right,” she picked up the phone, putting on her practiced smile as if the woman were there in the car with her, “Mother, how nice of you to--.”

“I just got a call from Louis about how you canceled your appointment with him this morning. What the hell, Lena?”

A centering breath then she answered, “I had a judge move up my hearing time earlier in the day so I couldn’t make the meeting with Louis. I’m sorry. Mother, I’m just going to have to find someone else to do the calligraphy. Or, we could just not do place cards at the reception.”

Beside her Jodi winced in anticipation of Lena’s mother’s response.

It came out as a screech as Lena had to pull the phone away from her ear which instantly started ringing, “I can’t believe you would say that. You know Michelle Blithe had place cards at her wedding and how elegant they looked. Do you really want your wedding to be less elegant than Michelle Blithe’s?”

Another breath to keep her tone even, “No, I supposed I don’t. That really would be a travesty.”

Her mother didn’t notice or chose to ignore her obvious sarcasm as she said, “I’ve convinced Louis to give you another chance to see him again today. He has an opening at noon so you better not cancel this time.”

‘Mom, I can’t just leave work whenever I want to keep an appointment with a calligrapher. I have clients I have to meet with and trials I have to prepare for and--.”

Though she knew it meant nothing to her mother she still felt the need to voice her objections all while knowing that her mother’s response would be, “Seriously, Lena, do you want this wedding to be perfect or not?”

*Not.*

But she knew her mother didn’t want to hear that.

“I’ll check with Jodi and see if I can’t move some things around.”

She looked to the side as the young woman shook her head mournfully.

She nodded.

“Okay, I have to go now, Mother. Kisses.”

The phone went silent as her mother hung up without adding her own farewell.

Lena let out a tired sigh as she slumped down in her seat. “We really have nothing we can move around so I can keep this appointment?”

Jodi shook her head, “Not unless you want Mr. Dragon upset with you.”

Mr. Dragon was what the pair called their boss behind his back. His actual name was Mr. Drake but he snorted like a dragon when angry and hoarded trials and money like the mythical creature. It had taken years to finally get the man to agree to let her work pro bono cases for the firm, “It would be good PR and can get us a tax break.”

The mention of tax break had been enough incentive for him.

“Alright, I’ll see if Eric can’t take some time out of his day to see the man instead.”

As the car came to a stop she dialed the number of her fiancé as her and Jodi got onto the elevator.

  
  


“I needed your help with the reception calligrapher…”

She paused to give a nod to some fellow lawyers at her firm as they got on the elevator with her.

Before she could continue Eric interrupted with his usual lament of, “Listen, Lena. You know this stuff doesn’t really matter to me.”

She opened her mouth to let him know this time it wasn’t about him picking a color for the floral decorations, but before she could get a sound out he continued, “All I care about is the bachelor party and Luke’s taking care of that.”

Her jaw tightened as he continued on for another moment. When he’d stopped she reminded him in a sharp tone, “This is for *our* wedding. The bachelor party doesn’t even include me. Can’t you take an interest in some part of this?”

He let out a tired sigh, “You know I have my big presentation coming up. I don’t have time to worry about this while I’m working on that. The wedding is two weeks away and is really just a small part of our journey.”

By now they’d arrived in Lena’s office. While most of the other top lawyer’s offices were decorated with modern glass desks and sleek black chairs, or dark leather chairs and thick dark wood desks, her furniture had all been acquired at an antique store.

It was a hodgepodge of things that she liked. A 19th century Napolean III Boulle side table. A Victorian era Tufted Library Armchair. A rococo miniature marquetry inlaid commode. A Louis XVI style side chair.

She took a seat at her reclaimed Whitlock II executive desk, not her favorite style but practical for what she needed. It was piled high with all her upcoming case files, law books, with a small space left clear for her laptop which was presently—her eyes scanned the room—there, on a Queen Anne carved dressing table. Jodi saw her eyes go to the laptop as she moved to get it for her.

She set it down in front of Lena who motioned for her to wait as she covered the receiver on her phone, “Mr. Rojas still can’t afford a suit for his trial. Take this,” she reached into her purse, pulling out her credit card, “Get him something nice for the trial that he can also have to wear to his next interview. The job market really is terrible. They want you to dress nice, but you can’t do that because you can’t afford it with no job and no one will offer you a job because they don’t like that you didn’t dress nice to the interview.”

Jodi nodded as she took the card, heading out of the room as Lena focused her attention back on the phone conversation, “Yes, Eric, I know the wedding is just a small part of our relationship’s journey. But it is also like the starting line. How we treat this moment here now is going to define our marriage.”

She flipped open a file in front of her as she reached for a colored tab, placing it on the page as she made a note, ‘The way we handle this wedding foreshadows how our relationship is going to be and you aren’t even willing to put effort into these small things,” she paused, her jaw flexing as she considered what she was saying.

If that were the case…she hesitated to voice her fears aloud.

Her mother had always taught her that a woman was not supposed to add to the concerns of her husband, instead she was always to lighten his load, making him comfortable.

But what about her comfort? What about her concerns and worries? Who was supposed to lighten her load? Was she expected to bear them on her own along with everyone else’s?

“I just…” she pressed her lips together before forcing herself to voice her concerns aloud, “it makes me think that later, after we’re married, you’re not going to put any effort into our relationship.”

It wasn’t just a concern for the future, but one for the present as she recalled that morning’s event.

She felt like she was constantly having to remind him, to beg him to “just take some of the pressure off me so I don’t have to bear it all on my own.”

But should she have to remind him of that? Was she always going to have to bottle up her feelings and just let them pass as she focused on making sure Eric felt cared for and supported.

The thing that had first bonded them, their maturity and ability to take care of themselves was now the thing that made her feel the most distant from him. She felt now like she was the one maintaining their relationship as if she was the only one putting in any effort and he was just along for the ride, letting her take control.

Neither of them had had much of a childhood. But now she felt like she was his caretaker. His mother, calling him every day to keep up the relationship, but never getting a call if she didn’t first initiate it. But she didn’t want to be that person. She didn’t want to be his mom. She wanted to be his partner. Someone he could rely on and someone she could in turn rely on.

She let out a tired sigh as she admitted, “I just want you to show some initiative. I know you are busy with your big presentation, but I have work as well. I’m just asking you to take off some of my load. To make it easier for both of us.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll pick a color.”

She frowned, “This isn’t about color, Eric. I need you to meet the--.”

The other line went dead as she frowned.

He—he’d hung up. She wasn’t done talking and he had just hung up.

Closing her eyes she fought to keep the tears from gathering in her eyes.

This wasn’t what she wanted.

This wasn’t how she wanted things to go.

Dropping her head onto the table she felt her head swim with all swarm of thoughts and emotions.

Anger.

Confusion.

Why can’t he just listen to me?

Are relationships supposed to be this hard?

She heard approaching footsteps as she lifted her head, collecting herself just as another lawyer entered.

‘Hey, I need you to look at this for me.”

He approached her desk, holding out a folder to her, pausing as he looked at the surface of her desk.

“Aren’t you getting married soon? I’d expect your office to be filled with wedding stuff.”

She took the folder, opening it as she skimmed the contents, “I prefer to keep home and work separate from one another.”

The man laughed to himself, “You really aren’t like most women. When my wife and I were getting married she had the whole kitchen filled with color swatches and--.”

Lena held the folder out to him, “This looks fine.”

He took it back.

Before he could continue she reminded him, “I have a lot to do today.”

“Oh, uh, right.”

He headed out, pausing at the door as he looked back to watch as she typed something into her laptop before jotting something down on a page in front of her.

He frowned.

“Like I’m not busy too.”

Out in the hall he spotted another lawyer as he called out to them, “Hey, Jerry, did you see that game last night?”

____

Lena would have worked through lunch if Jodi hadn’t come in with a bag of food.

“I brought your favorite.”

Lena smiled gratefully as she got up from her desk, “Please tell me it’s leftovers of your mom’s Pinakbet.”

The girl smiled as she opened the bag so Lena could take in the delicious smell of the shrimp paste.

“She even made some sans rival. I saved you a slice.”

“Bless you, Jodi. I really needed this.”

“Your mother wouldn’t agree.”

Lena frowned, “Don’t remind me.”

Her phone vibrated as she looked to see her mother’s name on the phone, “Oh great, you mentioned the devil and now she’s calling.”

She picked up, “Hello--.”

The woman cut her off before she could finish, “Louis called and said you canceled on him again.”

“I told you I didn’t have time to see him today.”

“Then I guess we just won’t have place cards.”

“It’s really not that big a deal, Mom. Doesn’t it make our wedding better if we don’t include them? They are a little outdated, just like many of Michelle’s wedding choices.”

She did not even bother telling her mother that most of the things her mother wanted were not necessary for the wedding. But it didn’t matter to the woman that her daughter just wanted a simple event. For her mother this was a chance to show off to all their friends and family. Lena’s desires were not even on her mind.

But then, they never had been.

Lena had learned young that if she wanted someone to worry about her feelings and desires she would have to do it herself.

Her parents had only ever cared about her in relation to how they could show off to their friends and family, ‘Our Lena is a lawyer at a big firm. Our Lena is having an expensive wedding; we’re pulling out all the stops.”

She was only their Lena when she was doing something they could brag about.

Her mother snorted, “You mean like her choice in husband?”

Lena frowned.

“Fine. I guess we don’t need them. But I’m not going with the alternative. What was the ludicrous thing you suggested instead?”

“A disposable camera for the table.”

It had been Eric’s suggestion. He had seemed excited for the idea and Lena had spent almost a whole day fighting with her mother to include the idea. But like everything Eric had wanted her mother had turned it down as she had reminded Lena, “I’m the one paying for this and we will not have such a tacky thing in our wedding.”

Lena let out a tired sigh as she reminded herself that once the wedding was over they could both focus on the things they wanted and not what their parents desired for them. At least that was the hope.

“Mom, I have to go, I only have ten minutes to eat and--.”

“Eat? Do you not want to fit in your dress? I hope you’re not eating anymore of that fattening Filipino food your secretary sneaks in for you.”

Jodi covered a smile as Lena gave her an apologetic look.

“I have to go, Mom. Talk to you later.”

She hung up first this time as she let out a long slow sigh.

‘Give me the sans rival first, I need the pick me up.”

Jodi let out a soft laugh as she handed over the sweet treat, “Have as much as you want.”

“I plan on it.”


	3. Chapter Two Side A

Ariel smiled as she opened the door for Eric. He looked as handsome as the first moment they’d met. His hair was a little windswept, but even out of place he looked perfect.

“Come in.”

He smiled as he entered the home. As he did Madison rushed into the room, beaming up at him as she declared, ‘You came!”

He reacted just as excited as she grabbed his hands, pulling him back to her bedroom as she showed off her various toy ponies and princess dolls.

Ariel came in a moment later, laughing as she found Madison trying to force the man to agree to a tea party.

“Madison, leave the poor man alone,” then looking at Eric she told him, “I’m just ordering pizza. I hope that’s okay. I thought it would give us more time to work.”

He smiled, “That’s fine with me.”

“Yay, pizza!” cried Madison as she ran from the room with her arms raised.

The adults followed her as Ariel headed into the kitchen to get out plates. As she set them down on the table Eric offered to set out forks as she directed him to the silverware drawer.

“Aunt Ariel, I can’t do this,” Michael let out a tired groan as he came into the room holding a textbook and notebook.

Before she could answer there was a loud crash from the living room.

“Sorry,” came Madison’s voice.

“You go take care of that,” stated Eric, “I’ll see if I can’t help with school.”

Ariel gave him a grateful smile before heading out of the room.

As Michael slumped down in a chair at the table, Eric took a seat beside him, “Okay, what’s the problem?”

Michael shoved the book towards him. Eric stroked his chin as he looked down at the page, studying it for a moment before nodding.

“Ah, yes, I remember helping my sister with this.”

He started to explain what Michael needed to do. A moment later Ariel came into the room holding a bag of glass shards.

A few minutes later the doorbell went off as Ariel came back with boxes of pizza.

“Pizza! Pizza!” called Madison as she ran around the kitchen table as Ariel set out the boxes.

Just after Eric had filled his plate his phone started ringing. He frowned as he saw Lena’s name.

‘I better take this,” he answered the call as he started out of the room.

Over the line they heard the sharp tones of the woman as she snapped, “Seriously, Eric, you can’t pick up a phone and call me?”

Once he was out of the room Madison leaned across the table to “whisper” to Ariel, “You should be with him. He even has the name of your prince.”

Ariel’s eyebrow arched curiously, “My prince?”

“Yeah,” she nodded like a bobble head on a bumpy road, “Prince Eric and the little mermaid fall in love and get married. Are you two going to fall in love and get married?”

The woman looked after him, her smile soft as she watched his forehead scrunch as he argued with Lena.

“No. He already has someone he loves.”

The little girl pouted as she folded her arms, slumping down in her seat.

Past her, Eric let out a resigned sigh as he replied like the words were a habit “Alright, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll be better. I promise.”

He hung up after that before coming back to the table.

The little girl perked up as she inquired, “Was that your girlfriend?”

He smiled, his expression appearing tired, ‘Yeah.”

She frowned as she recalled, ‘Was it that lady I spilled the coffee on?”

A grimace from Ariel as Eric nodded.

Madison’s frown deepened, “She looks just like human Ursula. Did she cast a spell on you?”

Eric laughed as Ariel apologized.

“No, it’s okay,” said Eric, “I guess in a way she did.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” went Ariel with a dreamy sigh.

Madison didn’t look to see it that way, “Does she have your heart in a box? Where does she keep it?”

The adults laughed in amusement at the little girl as Michael rolled his eyes.

After the meal, Eric offered to help wash dishes. As she washed he rinsed and dried them off.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do they keep calling you Aunt Ariel?”

She smiled softly, “Because I *am* their aunt. They, um,” she stopped to clear her throat, “They lost their parents a year ago. I’ve been their guardian ever since.”

Eric set down the plate he was holding as he looked at her, “I’m sorry.”

She nodded, keeping her focus on the dish in her hand, “It’s been rough. Madison still isn’t used to sleeping in the new house. She has nightmares every night and ends up in my bed before the end of the night. And Michael,” she let out a heavy sigh, “I don’t know what to do with him. He won’t talk to me. He just sulks and spends most of his time in his room.”

“Growing up it was just my mom and my two siblings. I was the oldest so I spent a lot of my free time helping take care of my siblings. It was hard, but I knew my mom needed the help. She was always so appreciative, but I didn’t really get a childhood. I think…I think it’s important you do what you can to ensure they don’t lose their childhood after this tragedy.”

She smiled sadly, “I’m trying. It’s just hard sometimes. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Parents never do. They just do the best they can and hope they don’t mess things up horribly.”

“Aunt Ariel,” the soft voice of Madison preceded her as she padded into the room, “I’m ready to be tucked in.”

“Okay, Sweetie.”

Before she could ask Eric said, “I’ll finish up.”

She gave him a thankful smile before leaving the room. A moment later she came back, giving Eric a strained smile as she said, “Madison wants you to check her room for monsters. She keeps insisting.”

He nodded, giving her an understanding smile. As he headed back to the room he passed Michael’s room. The boy’s door was open so he could see the boy sitting on the bed, bobbing his head along to the music coming through his headphones.

Eric tapped on the door, getting the boy’s attention, “Can I have this for your sister?” he pointed to an object sitting on the boy’s dresser.

The boy shrugged, “Whatever, I don’t care.” He put his headphones back on as Eric took it before heading on to Madison’s room next door.

The little girl was already snuggled under the blankets as Eric stepped into the room. She immediately noticed him hiding something behind his back as she perked up.

“What’s that?”

Eric moved his hands around so she could see the object in his hands.

“One of Michael’s soldiers. Why do you have that?”

“Because he is more than just a soldier, he is a monster hunter. Whatever things you are afraid of hiding in your closet or under your bed are more scared of him.”

The little girl’s eyes brightened at she ate up his every word. “Really?”

He nodded, “I’ll just put him down here,” he bent down as she leaned forward to watch him as he placed the soldier down at the corner of her bed, “He will stay here and keep watch for you, making sure nothing bothers you while you sleep.”

The little girl smiled as she sat back, snuggling under the covers again. Her expression was content as she drifted off to sleep.

As he turned to leave he found Ariel standing in the doorway. She smiled as he came out into the hall.

“That was amazing. I think this might actually work.”

He smiled, “Hopefully.”

The two headed into the dining room as Eric got to work catching Ariel up on the client they were going to be presenting to and all the things he had planned for the presentation.

____

Lena was already in bed when he got in that night. She stirred slightly as he came into the room.

“Did you make a lot of progress?”

He looked thoughtful as he took off his pants, taking a moment to think about his night with Ariel. A soft smile came to his face as he remembered Madison and talking with Ariel, “Uh, yeah. My new partner knows a lot. She should be a lot of help on the project.”

A tired, “That’s good.”

He slid into the bed, wrapping his arms around her as he felt a buzzing in his chest as he started to kiss her neck. He felt her body press into his as she let out a groan.

“I have an early morning.”

The buzzing stopped as he frowned, pulling back from her as he rolled away from her. As he drifted off to sleep he remembered how nice it had felt to spend time with Ariel and her family. As he did he felt an emotion awaken in his chest he never thought he’d feel


	4. Chapter Two Side B

Though Lena had been busy all day and felt exhausted, on her way home she bought groceries to make a meal for her and Eric.

She felt bad for how stressed she’d been lately and how she sometimes took out that frustration on Eric. All she wanted was for them to work together and support each other.

Her arms were full as she headed into the entrance of the apartment building. As she passed the front desk she gave a quick hello to the doorman who was talking with a blonde bike messenger.

The woman turned, a smile appearing on her face when she saw Lena. Seeing her full arms she called out, “You want some help?”

“Uh, no,” she paused to adjust her grip on the bag, “I’ve got it.”

“I’m heading up,” stated the young woman, “I can at least hold a bag for you till we get to my floor.”

Lena wasn’t sure; asking other people for help wasn’t her favorite thing. It always put a tight feeling in her chest like she was doing something wrong. But, she hadn’t really asked the woman for help, she had offered.

She let the woman take a bag from her. As they got onto the elevator she felt her body tense for another reason as she was reminded of one of her mother’s life lessons: No one did anything for free.

When they reached Lena’s floor the girl set the bag of food down in front of the door. Seeing Lena was reaching for her pocket book she lifted her hand in signal for her to stop.

“I don’t need any money. I was just doing it to be nice.”

Lena didn’t know how to respond to that. Her mother would say the girl was feigning this generous act to make herself look good. But something about the girl’s smile and sparkling cerulean eyes made her believe the girl didn’t have ulterior motives.

“Then thank you. I appreciate the help.”

The girl nodded before heading back to the elevator. It was only after the doors had closed that Lena realized, “I should have asked her name.”

Even if the girl said she didn’t want money Lena could have called her employer and put in a good word for her. But she hadn’t even noticed the company logo on the girl’s messenger bag. So much for the skills of keen observation she used in the courtroom.

But then, it was easier for her to pay attention to things when she was working a case. When she was out in the world she was less observant, most times more focused on her own cares and worries.

Focusing on herself was what she was used to. She had had to train herself to care about others and worry about their concerns. Even when it was hard for her she preferred it to the alternative: becoming a self-centered, self-obsessed monster like her mother.

Inside she set her bags down on the counter. Behind her the Ormolu French Mantel clock chimed reminding her Eric would be home soon. He was pretty consistent about what time he got off work. Unlike her. But tonight she had made sure to finish everything up for the day so she could come home to make this apology meal.

“I know the wedding planning has been hard on both of us, but let’s just remember why we are doing this.”

She paused in practicing her speech as she removed her jacket.

Why were they doing this?

If she could, she would just run off with Eric and get married at the courthouse. Or on a boat floating past Niagara Falls.

But her mother would never allow that. If she even thought Lena was going to do something like that she’d put a tail on her to ensure she didn’t succeed.

“You are getting married before God and before my country club friends. I won’t let you do it in some rundown chapel with no one to take professional photos.”

Lena took in a breath, stirring the sauce as she started into her speech again, “I know my mother can be a pain and she is making this wedding hard on both of us…”

An hour later she had everything finished. A nice baked garlic parmesan chicken, with a side salad and broccoli-pasta side dish.

Satisfied with how everything looked she turned back to look at the clock. Right about now Eric should be coming through the door, but after cleaning up all her cooking utensils he still hadn’t entered.

Panic started to fill her heart as she worried about all the things that might have made him late.

Grabbing her phone she called his cellphone.

No answer.

She called his work phone.

Nothing.

She reminded herself it was probably nothing. Still she couldn’t help but imagine him getting mugged. Left bleeding in the parking lot as he wondered why she hadn’t yet called to check on him.

She dialed his cell phone again.

This time he picked up.

“I’m sorry, Lena, I should have called. I’ve just been so busy worrying about the big presentation. You know how the boss gets.”

“Still, you could have picked up a phone and called me,” her tone was sharper than she’d meant it. She took a breath to calm herself.

This wasn’t the first time he’d done this. Usually it happened when he left with Luke after work, getting distracted by his friend as they went to the bar to unwind. She couldn’t remember him ever inviting her, never considering she might like to unwind as well.

“I just would have liked a heads up. I also have a lot of work and could have spent the time I used to make the meal to review my cases for tomorrow.”

“I didn’t ask you to make me anything. I could have picked something up after work.”

Her mouth was tight as she replied, ‘I know you didn’t ask for the meal, but I thought I’d do something nice. I know you’ve been stressed about work and the wedding and pressures from our families. I just would have appreciated at least a text.”

He let out a slow sigh, “Alright, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll be better. I promise.”

She frowned as she felt that familiar niggle at the back of her mind. He was always so good at making promises. Not so good at keeping them.

“Okay. I’ll make up a plate for you when you--.”

‘I’m going to be late getting in.”

“Then I’ll put it in a container for lunch tomorrow.”

She hung up first this time as she let out a heavy sigh, her gaze shifting over to the still steaming food.

Suddenly she wasn’t that hungry.

Though she’d been tired before now her body buzzed with anxious and annoyed energy. Feeling too wired to sleep, too annoyed to focus on work, she grabbed her bag as she headed out of the apartment.

Time for her to play as hard as she worked.

____

For Lena, unwinding involved the smell of wood lacquer and grease lubricant.

The bell above the door rang out as she entered the antique store. The old man at the back looked up from his book, smiling as he watched her shift her body to make her way through the piles of furniture.

“Miss Luthor, it’s been awhile.”

“I half expected you to be closed by this time.”

The old man laughed, “Nah.”

‘You get many late night antiquers?”

Another laugh, “Nah. I just prefer being here than home alone.”

She nodded sympathetically.

Last year Mr. Mazza had lost his wife. She had been visiting the shop for years and was saddened by the news. They had been a cute little couple, who even after being together for fifty years still loved each other as if their relationship was as fresh as the first day.

“What brings you here?” inquired the man as he let out a tired groan while pushing up from his seat.

“I just needed to get out of the house and unwind.”

He let out a knowing laugh as he motioned for her to follow him. “Unwind by winding, you mean.”

In the back was his tool shop where he restored and repaired old pieces. There was a stool set up in front of a work bench where he had a wood piece locked into a bench vise as he waited for the glue to dry.

“I have some old clocks that need cleaning. I’m actually glad you came by today. I wasn’t sure how I was going to put them back together with my poor eyesight.”

She smiled as he motioned to a seat next to the table where the clocks had been set up.

“Happy to help.”

“Now, are you going to be wanting paid this time, or are you still doing that whole Paul Bono thing?”

She chuckled, “I should really be paying you. This is like therapy for me.”

“Ah, I don’t want your money.”

“I feel the same.”

The two grew quiet as they got to work on their own projects.

Mrs. Mazza had been the talker. The one to draw out whatever had brought Lena to the shop to work. But the silence was fine too. A comfortable silence where one could focus completely on their work.

A chime from the front interrupted the silence as Mr. Mazza looked up from the wood he’d been painting. Letting out a tired groan he started to shift in order to push himself up.

Seeing the struggle Lena rose as she told him, “I’ll get it.”

As she headed through the back curtain she told the entrant, “Sorry, we’re not really op--.”

She paused as she spotted a familiar golden haired woman. She was still standing near the entrance, looking around at the collection of antiques with a look of awe.

As her eyes came around to Lena she smiled before moving down the narrow aisle towards her, “Do you work here too?”

“No. I just know the owner. He lets me help with restorations.”

“Really? That’s so cool. What kind of things do you do?”

She had a package with her. Lena took it from her, signing for it as the other girl rested her elbows on the glass counter. Her eyes dropped to the contents of the case as she admired the watches contained within.

Lena set down the package as she motioned to the case, “Mostly I help him with winding and fixing watches.”

‘You fix any of these?”

Lena pointed out a few she recognized, the rest she wasn’t sure.

“I also rewired a few lamps,” she pointed to the wall where the lamps in question glowed.

“Amazing.” The bike messenger genuinely sounded excited by this. Unlike Lena’s mother, who thought of it as an annoying hobby she kept only to annoy the woman.

_“Why can’t you have a normal hobby?”_

_“What? Like shopping or critiquing the way people raise their children.”_

As the blonde’s eyes took in more of the shop, Lena asked, “Are you looking to buy anything? Mr. Mazza has a lot of great pieces.”

The girl looked back with a smile, “I can see that.”

There was a sparkle in her eyes that made Lena’s face flush. But it wasn’t like she was implying Lena was one of those fine pieces.

_Right?_

“I um, if that’s all I should close up so no one else wanders in.”

The girl looked amused as she grabbed her signature pad. Lena followed her back to the door where the woman paused, turning back as she gave the shop one last look over before fixing her eyes on Lena.

“Thanks for signing.”

Yet again it wasn’t till she was gone Lena realized she should have asked her name.

Something about the girl caused her to forget basic rules of etiquette.

Mr. Mazza looked up as she came back into the work room.

“I locked up the front.”

“Did they at least buy anything?”

“They were dropping off a package.” She set it down beside him as she made her way back to her seat.

“Ah, good. My new work glasses.”

He opened it up, taking out a set of jeweler’s magnifying eye glasses. Putting them on he turned to face Lena as he inquired “How do I look?”

She laughed, “Like a spider.”

He chuckled. “Good. Just what I was going for.”

She smiled as he turned back to his work. She turned her own focus back to the clock. The gold of its gears shimmered as she manually turned it, the shine reminding her of the golden hair of the bike messenger. Recalling the sparkle in the woman’s eyes made her breath hitch as a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time shook her heart.

Shaking it off she reminded herself what happened when she let such feelings take control.

She pursued Eric.

The one she was marrying

The one she had chosen.

____

As he’d warned her, it was late by the time Eric got home. She heard him trying to be quiet as he entered their bedroom, but even without the effort he would not have woken her.

“Did you make a lot of progress?”

She heard the clink of his belt as he took off his pants, ‘Uh, yeah. My new partner knows a lot. She should be a lot of help on the project.”

*She. *

She did not let the thought linger, reminding herself she had nothing to worry about. Women were all around Eric every day, but he had chosen her.

“That’s good.”

She felt him slide in behind her, shifting in close as he wrapped his arms around her. A kiss on her cheek Another on her neck, hot with his breath.

She let out a tired groan as she reminded him, “I have an early morning.”

At that she felt him pull back as he turned away from her completely. She didn’t know why he couldn’t have stayed near her, continued to hold her, his arms making her feel secure. Loved. Cared for.

Deciding it wasn’t something worth mentioning, she’d already nagged him about enough that day, she faced her own wall as she let her eyes close.

She was probably going to regret not saying anything. But if she did it now, with how she felt, she knew it would turn into a fight.

Sometimes it felt like it was only when he wanted, like she was an object he could pull out when he wanted and then ignore it the rest of the time. She knew he would argue with her feeling, insisting that was not the case. She did not want to be shut down again for how she felt. She did not want to be judged for her insecurities. She would rather he take the time to assuage her fears. To hold her close and let her know he was there for her.

But instead of saying any of that she kept silent, cold, because it was the only way she knew to stay safe. 


	5. Chapter Three Side A

Eric was with Lena at a fancy dinner. A charity event put together by Lena’s family, the Luthor’s, hosted by one of the many rich families they knew.

He always felt out of place with her family. Like he was being judged about everything he did. Like he wasn’t good enough.

Speaking of not good enough, Lillian Luthor came over then, making some passive aggressive comment to him that some would only see as a greeting. But he knew better. Having dated Lena for four years he knew exactly what the woman really thought about him, even when she veiled it with smiles and seemingly sweet comments.

The woman turned to her daughter. He felt his fiancée’s grip on his arm tighten with anger as her jaw clenched at the mere presence of her mother.

“Lena,” the woman smiled with that icy look in her eyes that always sent a cold shiver up Eric’s spine, “I see you are still working on your wedding diet. Now don’t give up now, you still have two weeks to meet your weight goal.”

Eric cringed as Lena replied just as icily, “Thank you, Mother. Eric, we better go greet the Maheswaran before they get swarmed.”

Pulling his arm she directed him towards the owners of the home, an older couple who were talking with another couple.

Lena started talking with them, something about the plates they had used for the event, as Eric scanned the room of party goers. He knew several of them, having spent a lot of time at events like this while dating Lena.

“Hey, Eric,” a man his age waved at him as he came over, “Just heard about your engagement.”

Eric smiled pleasantly as he let out a single laugh, “Slow as ever on catching the news.”

The man laughed good naturedly, “Yeah, guess so. You excited?”

Eric glanced back at Lena as she talked with the couples about things he didn’t understand. “Yeah. Of course.”

“You know, Patricia and I had a bet going on whether you two would ever tie the knot or just break up,” he laughed again, “Guess I lose a hundred dollars.”

Eric’s smile was strained. This man never knew how to talk to people without putting his foot in his mouth.

“Gregory,” Lena turned her attention to the young man in front of Eric as she smiled pleasantly at him, “How are you? How’s Patricia?”

“I’m good. She’s good.”

As he started to update her on just how good they were, Lena leaned into Eric as she whispered, “Roger Emers is here. I heard he just got a new boat. Maybe you should talk to him about that.”

Eric nodded as he headed off. He passed a group of young men talking together. They waved at him as he waved back but continued past. Letting out a heavy sigh he headed back to a corner of the room where he could be alone.

Leaning back against the wall he pulled out his phone, smiling as he found a text from one of his friends.

Luke: “Hey, man. How is the fancy party going? You ready to shoot yourself yet?”

He laughed to himself as he composed a reply, “You have no idea. Lena’s playing mom again and trying to set me up with new playmates.”

A laugh emoji from his friend. “Laaame! So are you finally going to do it? You going to make some rich friends and dump our asses?”

“No way. You know you guys are my forever bros.”

A shadow fell over his screen as he looked up to find Lena frowning at him, “Eric, can you at least try to socialize at this thing. I know you don’t want to be here, but this is important.”

He put his phone away, “I’m sorry, Lena. But you know this isn’t really my scene.”

“And you think the family picnic tomorrow is my scene? But I’m still going. Just,” her eyes drifted to the side as her expression became tired, “stand next to some people for an hour and make a comment every now and then. After that we can go.”

A long heavy sigh as he pushed off the wall, “Fine.”

She watched him go, a frown coming to her face before she turned, putting on a smile as she greeted a passing woman, “Mrs. Juniper, I love that hat.”

Eric let out another heavy sigh. It was so easy for her to pretend, to act like she actually cared about these people. To pretend that she actually cared about the cutlery they had chosen. But pretending was not something he was good at. Not something he ever wanted to be good at.

Pulling out his phone he sent off a quick message to his friend, “I wish you were here. At least then I’d have someone worth talking to.”

Before he put his phone away a reply message came in. A gif of a baby crying. He laughed to himself before putting his phone away again.

“Time to socialize.”

____

Brightly colored banners were stretched between poles set up around the park. Off to one side a bouncy castle had been set up and was already swaying with the children bouncing within.

Eric smiled as a group of kids ran past as Lena halted beside him, a frown firmly set on her face. This was more what he liked. Being outdoors not holed up in a room dressed in a suit and tie. Just a comfy pair of jeans and t-shirt.

While he felt relaxed, Lena looked tense as she halted for another group of running children. Her expression said she clearly hated everything there.

“Eric!”

The young man turned just in time to have an object hit his legs full force. He smiled as he looked down to find Madison beaming up at him.

“The monster slayer has helped me so much.”

He smiled, patting her head, “I’m glad.”

Looking up he watched as Ariel and Michael came over. The young woman gave him a soft smile as he returned the look.

“Oh,” went Lena, “You,” it was obvious from her expression that she was recalling the coffee incident.

Ariel looked ready to apologize but Lena lifted her hand, cutting her off as she said, “I’m going to get something to drink.”

She headed off as Eric turned his attention back to the little girl as she pulled at his hand, “Come bounce with me.”

He let her pull him as she dragged him into the rubber castle where she bounced around him, showing off and calling for him to, “Watch me.”

“Thank you,” said Ariel when he crawled out ten minutes later.

He smiled as he watched Madison run off to a table of sweets with her brother following slowly behind.

‘It’s no problem.”

“I’m sorry she keeps glomming onto you. She really seems to like you.”

He laughed, “It’s fine. She’s a sweetie.” He smiled softly as he watched the young girl pointing at various treats as she talked excitedly with her brother, “I helped my mom raise my siblings and decided after that I didn’t want kids of my own. But spending time with them,” he paused to consider his words, “I don’t know, maybe I would like kids.”

He frowned as he looked off to the side. Lena looked frustrated as she had to make a quick stop to avoid crashing to a child as they ran past. The drink she was holding splashed up onto her shirt as she looked to let out an aggravated growl as she stomped her foot.

His eyes came back to Ariel who was looking at him with a soft expression, “But I don’t think Lena would ever agree to that.”

Ariel frowned sympathetically, “You should still talk with her about it. She might surprise you.”

He looked unsure, but nodded.

Madison ran back over then, calling out for him to lift her up as she grabbed at his arm. He did just that, flexing his muscles as she hung onto his arm like it was a tree branch.

“Oh, what a cute family,” went a woman as her and three other women smiled while admiring Eric, Ariel and the little girl.

Eric set Madison down as he looked back at Lena who looked like she was about to scream with her head dropped back, her eyes closed, “I better go check on my fiancée.”

Ariel nodded as he headed away.

Eric reached Lena as a different group of women talked with her.

‘How long after you get married are you planning to wait before you have kids?”

“We’re not having kids,” stated Lena tersely.

“Are you sure? Kids are such a blessing. And Eric would make such a good dad. How could you take that away from him?”

Lena’s jaw was tight as she fixed her tense gaze on the woman, “We both don’t want kids. I’m not depriving him of anything he actually wants.”

With that she turned, stomping away as Eric gave the women a quick apology before heading after her.

He caught up with her at a line of trees, ”Hey, you okay?”

She pressed her thumb against her temple, “No. I feel a migraine coming on. Can you get me some water?”

“Right. Sure.”

He headed back to the drinks table. On his way back Ariel intercepted him, looking panicked as she said, “I can’t find Madison.”

He completely forgot about the water as he joined her in checking over the picnic area.

“Madison. Madison!”

The sounds of their cries grew louder and more panicked the longer they searched. Finally Michael pointed as he dryly stated, “There she is.”

The little girl was standing in front of Lena who was glaring down at the girl. Just as Eric and Ariel reached her Lena snapped at the girl, “You need to grow up.”

As soon as the words were out the little girl began to cry. While Eric and Ariel stopped to check on her Lena stalked away.

Before she was far away Eric heard her grumble under her breath, “This is why I hate kids.”

He felt his heart sink before he turned back to wipe away a tear from Madison’s cheek.

‘Hey, it’s okay. You want to go into the bouncy house again?”

She immediately brightened as she took his hand in both of hers, pulling at him as she said, ‘Come on, let’s go.”

He laughed as he let her lead him back to the bouncy castle. Another ten minutes later the girl was thirsty as she led him back to the drinks table.

Ariel joined them as she said, “I’m sorry she keeps dragging you around.”

‘It’s no problem. Really.”

“Madison, sweetie, don’t you want to go play with some kids your own age? I’m sure that will be more fun for you.”

The girl frowned.

“I’m sure Eric would also like to spend some time with friends his own age.”

“Like you,” stated the little girl, “If you promise to play with my aunt Ariel I’ll go play with kids my own age.”

Eric laughed, agreeing to the terms as Ariel frowned apologetically.

“I’m sorry she seems to have imprinted on you.”

“You really need to stop apologizing so much.”

She laughed nervously, “Sorry.”

They both laughed.

Ariel watched the girl join another group of kids her age. They looked to get on immediately as they started to run around the park. As she followed their movements she noticed Lena was talking with Enrique Morales, one of her coworkers. The man was flirtatious with everyone and looked especially close with Lena as he leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

Ariel looked back at Eric who did not seem to notice his fiancée as he followed Madison with his eyes.

“You don’t need to stick around. Give her a bit of time and she’ll completely forget about the both of us.”

“It’s fine. I really don’t mind hanging with you. It’s better than the alternate,” his gaze headed to the side as he found Lena talking with a couple. She noticed him watching as she motioned for him to come over.

He let out a tired groan, “Looks like Lena’s trying to find me a new playmate again.”

Ariel gave him a curious look.

“Every event we go to Lena tries to find me some new friends. Like I’m some elementary school kid who has trouble making friends and needs mommy to help him.”

“Why does she feel the need to do that?”

“Because she doesn’t like my friends. But she doesn’t get it. I spent most of my childhood helping my mom. When I got to college I finally had a chance to unwind and just play. The friends I made there help me hang loose when I get all tight and worried about life. They help me relax. I don’t have to be serious with them. I don’t have to be the good son or the protective older brother. I’m just Eric with them.”

She smiled, “That sounds nice. Have you told Lena that? I’m sure she’d understand.”

He let out a heavy sigh, “I don’t know. She’s good at just talking to anyone even if she doesn’t like them. I feel like she wants me to do the same and make friends with some of her upper crust friends. Even though they don’t know how to have real fun. Not like my friends.”

‘That stinks. I’m sorry she doesn’t understand.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Giving her a begrudging smile he headed off to join Lena as she introduced him to the couple, “Preston went to the same college as you.”

He forced a smile, “Oh really. What year?”

____

Eric was sitting on the couch in his friend Luke’s apartment. The place was done up like the stereotypical bachelor pad. On one wall three gaming machines were set up, a fighting game, a pinball machine, and a shooter game. On the other wall a bar was set up with stools and beer steins hanging from an overhead unit. In front of a beat up brown leather couch a large screen TV displayed a basketball game as the guys cheered for their team.

“I’m surprised Lena let you come,” stated Luke as he came around the couch with a beer for him and Eric.

Eric laughed, “Yeah well, I told her I was tired of her trying to set me up with her country club friends and I guess she’s tired of trying.”

“Had to lay down the law, huh,” stated Eric’s other friend Beets. “That’s good. You should do it more often.”

“Not if he wants to get any” stated Luke, “you know the ice queen only grants him entrance to her lair when he’s doing exactly what she tells him.”

His friends laughed as Eric shook his head at their joke.

‘Don’t be crude.”

‘What? You know it’s true. When was the last time you even got any?”

Before he could answer there was a knock at the apartment door.

He got up as he told the guys, “I asked my work partner to drop off some papers for our upcoming presentation. It will only be a moment.”

The guys booed at him as they threw popcorn.

Eric smiled as he opened the door to let Ariel inside.

“Hey, thanks for doing this. Sorry you had to go out of your way.”

“No, it’s okay.” She smiled past him at the other men who gaped at her. She gave them a shy wave.

Eric looked over the papers as Luke ran over, lopping his arm over his friends shoulder as he held out his hand to Ariel, “Enchante, I’m Luke. And you?”

She took his hand, “Ariel.”

“Ariel. What an enchanting name. Well, Ariel, would you be interested in joining us? We’ve got the game on and I have a wide selection of alcohols and snacks.” He motioned back to the large TV that took up most of the wall on which it hung.

Her smile was polite as she told him, “Thank you for the offer, but I wouldn’t want to interrupt your guy time.”

“You wouldn’t be. We’d love to have you.”

“Oh, is uh, Lena here too?”

Luke’s smile faded to a sour look at the mere mention of the woman’s name, “No.”

Ariel looked embarrassed, “Oh, sorry.”

“This looks good,” said Eric as he turned his attention from the papers to her, “Thanks.”

‘Eric, invite the girl to join us,” ordered Luke.

“If you don’t have to get back to the kids, you could join us for a quick beer and some snacks.”

She bit her lip, looking to consider the offer as her eyes shifted past the men to the game, “I haven’t had a beer in a while.”

Luke took that as acceptance as he waved his arm, calling for her to come in as he led her to the bar, “What’s your poison?”

Ariel smiled at Eric as he closed the door behind her before following them over to the bar.

She got a drink then joined them on the couch as he introduced her to Beets.

“Beets?” she repeated.

The man nodded, ‘It’s a nickname from college.”

Before he could explain Eric interrupted, “You don’t want to know. It was just a stupid teenage nickname that we haven’t been able to drop.”

“Lena hates it,” stated Luke, “That’s mostly why we keep using it.”

Ariel laughed lightly, whether from discomfort or because she understood, Eric couldn’t tell.

Beets shushed them all as he reminded them the game was still on. Together they cheered as another point was scored.

Five minutes later Eric and Luke went to the bar to get everyone refills. As Luke used a spout to refill their steins he looked back at the couch where Ariel was laughing at one of Beet’s jokes, “She’s the girl you should be engaged to. She’s actually fun.”

Eric frowned, “You know Lena just likes different things. It doesn’t make her bad.”

“Doesn’t make her good either. You know she hates us. Every time we’re around her I can feel her judging us. Like—does she even like anything?”

Eric started to voice all the things she liked, but found nothing came to mind.

“Well, if you’re not going to tap that,” Luke motioned to Ariel with his chin, “Then I don’t want to hear any whining when I pursue her.”

Eric frowned, “Please don’t, Luke. I can’t have you ruining another work relationship for me because you can’t keep your dick in your pants.”

“That would be animal cruelty,” stated the man with a lecherous smile as he let out a laugh before heading back to the couch, leaning in as he said something to Ariel which made her laugh.

Eric frowned, rolling his eyes before heading over to join his friends.


	6. Chapter Three Side B

Though they were both busy, Lena and Eric found themselves attending her mother’s latest charity dinner. The event was taking place at one of the woman’s friend’s homes. While she hated these events, Lena relaxed slightly as she entered the room, taking in the deconstructive architect style which was highlighted nicely with some Frank Gehry furniture. There was even one of Gehry’s Easy Edges lounge chair.

Beside her, she felt Eric tense even more as he took in the grand surroundings. He looked afraid like even breathing might break something. She patted his arm reassuringly.

Before she could say anything comforting her mother stepped into view. Her own body tensed as her grip on Eric’s arm increased as fear filled her body. She was six again, first entering the Luthor household where she was immediately scolded for walking too close to a Mackenzie-Childs dining room table.

No matter how old she got, no matter what things she accomplished, they would never be good enough for her family. Everything she did was always questioned by them. Dissected. Torn apart and reformed in the way they wanted it to appear.

Even now, at a time that was supposed to be a joyous occasion, she felt more of a disappointed to her mother than at any time before.

Her mother drew in close, planting the customary kisses on her cheeks. Signs of affection to an outside observer, in truth a warning for Lena to behave. A reminder to not embarrass her mother.

Lena always did her best, afraid to awaken her mother’s ire. To have her mother speak to her in a way that would only further the wounds in her heart.

“Be sure to greet the hosts,” stated Mrs. Luthor in reminder as if she hadn’t trained her daughter well enough. As if the many lessons she’d pounded into her head as a child had not stuck.

Instead of saying any of that Lena directed her and Eric’s course towards the host couple. Eric remained silent at her side like a male trophy wife. But an arm decoration was not what she wanted. A partner would have been more desirable.

A colorful object behind the couple caught her eye. A serving tray set up with canapés.

“Are these Robert Haviland and C. Parlon plates? With the Shleiger pattern.”

Mrs. Maheswaran smiled as she looked back at the table, “Why, yes. We picked it up in France. You have a keen eye. Most people mistake it for the Richmond pattern.”

Lena smiled, “Ah, yes, the designs are very similar, but I recognize it because of the color choice.”

She lost herself in conversation with the couple about other porcelain facts. By the time another couple came over to gain the couples’ attention Eric had left her side. Looking around the room her mother caught her before she could find her fiancé.

“Your fiancé isn’t socializing. Again,” she said it like it was all Lena’s fault. Like she expected her daughter to have the man better trained, like a pet. “I really don’t know why you insist on having him. He’s not going to make a good husband. Not if he can’t rub elbows with the people here. You need your husband to get you far in life, Lena. To give you a good name, not just to look good on your arm.”

Lena just smiled, acting as if she wasn’t being chewed out by her mother. Just as the woman finished she spotted Eric leaned up aga’inst a wall.

I’ll talk to him.”

Puling herself free of her mother’s vice grip she headed over to her companion.

“Eric,” she sounded tired, felt it too, “Can you at least try to socialize at this thing.”

When they had first started dating they had worked as a team at events like this. Then they had stayed together, finding it helped them make the rounds quicker. It also made it more enjoyable to have someone with you to pick up the slack when the conversation lulled, or when the conversation went onto a subject one of you didn’t know anything about the other could pick it up.

At some point this had changed. Eric had grown tired of the merry go round of the dinner party discourse and started to go off on his own, leaving Lena to carry the weight all on her own.

If her mother hadn’t prodded her to get him then she would have left him alone. She used to basically drag him back to the party, but after a while she gave up on that, deciding it was best to do things on her own rather than waste energy to try and convince him to help her.

As she tried to get his help that day he made some excuse about the party not being his scene. As if he thought it was hers. As if he though she liked faking it. Of acting like she cared about stock prices and Bunny’s newest fur coat. But as a Luthor she had learned how to force a smile and act like the person in front of her was talking about the most important things in the world.

She had thought Eric understood that being in advertising, but it was like he didn’t even care enough to pretend. Even for her.

It felt like, at times, like he thought she enjoyed these events. But she would much rather be home alone with a good book about Bauhaus and a glass of zinfandel

If only she could be doing that now. Instead of here.

She especially wished she could stay home tomorrow.

Ugh. Tomorrow.

____

The next day’s event was outdoors. A family picnic hosted by Eric’s advertising firm for their employees and families.

Picnic tables were set up with neon bright colored plastic table clothes. The corners to the tables all seemed to have balloons tied to them like it was some adolescent’s birthday. There was even a bouncy castle from which ear splitting shrieks issued.

Things might have been more laid back at the event, but Lena felt more uncomfortable there than she had at the dinner party the previous night. She would much rather have put on her tight gown and gone through all those uncomfortable conversations again than be there now with screaming children running around like deranged monkeys. Screaming for no reason she could see. No terrifying clowns chased them around. No mother’s with unrealistic expectations hovered nearby like a phantom manifestations of disappointment.

Then there was the scent of burning wood and meat that filled the air like a suffocating cologne. Various grills had been set up around the park where men showed off their prowess with their smoked and charred meats. She was sure there was a metaphor in there but she didn’t care to dwell on it.

All she knew for sure was that she didn’t understand any of it.

Was it supposed to be fun?

Torture?

None of it made sense.

But she would bear it all for Eric’s sake, just as he had done the previous night.

But just like the previous night he was unable to stay by her side as he ended up wandering off with his new coworker, the woman that had spilled coffee on her. The red haired Ariel Tritton.

‘They better have alcohol at this event.”

Just as she found the table of drinks a group of women confronted her. Wives of Eric’s coworkers. Women she had met on occasion and who had always seemed to have an opinion about her life’s choices.

Today they focused on her upcoming nuptials and her immediate plans for after. Plans such as how long before they started trying for kids. As if that was the only thing a woman was good for. Bearing men their offspring and then being left to raise them while the male went off to “provide” for his property.

They did not seem to care about her feelings on the matter at all as they focused on how she was “depriving” Eric in his right to be a father. As if she alone had made the decision. As if she was the bad guy withholding from him.

Why was it always about the man and what he wanted? What he needed? What he desired?

She was having a bad day, and feeling the beginnings of a “snap” coming on, as she gave an excuse before leaving the women to judge each other.

She needed to find some shade.

Eric had joined her, not having defended her to the women.

Why could he never be on her side?

She told him she felt a headache coming on and instead of sympathizing with her he started to scold her.

“Why do you always have to act this way? Why can’t you be civil to my coworkers and their kids?”

She felt her jaw flex with the urge to state her mind. To tell him all the reasons she had to not get along with his coworkers. To not like children who drained her mentally. But Eric never took the time to understand that or care that she might need time to decompress from the small balls of sugar addled energy.

Regardless of all that she still came, she still stood by his side and listened to his coworkers grating stories about work and family. Unlike him, who always ended up abandoning her, like that day when he kept spending all his time with his coworker and her bratty kids.

Seeing she wasn’t going to say anything Eric let out an annoyed huff, “Fine, I’ll get you some water.”

He stomped off, leaving her alone in the shade of the trees.

Ten. Twenty minutes passed and he didn’t return. It really shouldn’t have taken him that long to find her water unless he’d gotten distracted. Probably by some strawberry blonde.

She started to head off to get her own water when she realized her path was blocked by a little girl. A familiar looking girl.

It was when the girl scowled she recognized her as the one that had spilled coffee on her. She started to go around her, but the girl shifted over, stepping in her path again.

“You need to let Eric go so he can be with my aunt.”

Lena could feel her patience splintering as she let out a heavy sigh. She turned around, heading back the way she’d come. Behind her she heard the hurried footsteps of the girl as she came after her.

“I know you’ve cast a spell on him or something; why else would he want to be with a witch like you. But no matter how hard you try to hold on true love is going to win in the end.”

Another sharp turn as the girl ran to keep up, continuing her barrage of insults and fairy tale references.

The girl’s unrealistic views on life irritated Lena as she recalled her own childhood views of things, like family and friends, and how wrong she’d always been. This girl was going to find herself experiencing the same heartache when reality finally bit her in the ass. When she finally realized that love was not like it was in her precious fairy tales.

Things didn’t get wrapped up perfectly. They didn’t end happily ever after, just ended. Fights stopped. Hopes and dreams were put away. The fire that had once pulsed in your veins burned down to embers as you were left with nothing left to burn. No anger. Not love. Nothing. Just a dull complacency for one another.

Nothing in life was perfect so why did everyone expect to find a better person that would make them feel whole. If it worked, if the triangle peg fit in the square hole, why look for something “better?”

As the girl continued to ramble on about true love and how Eric and her aunt were meant for each other, Lena had enough, as she turned around, surprising the girl as she stumbled back.

The whole day she had seen people gushing over how adorable the little girl was. How adorable her fairy tale perception on life was. But while everyone else saw it has harmless fun, Lena saw the true detriment it could cause for the girl, instilling in her unrealistic expectations of life and love..

More for the girl’s sake than because of her annoyance with her, Lena told her, “You need to drop this fairy tale thing and realize that not all prince charming are worth pursuing. Some are only charming when they are around other people, but once you are alone they turn into a beast. And I don’t mean a beast like beauty and the beast, I mean like that kind that will eat you alive and not feel an ounce of regret about it.

“Then there are others that will confess their undying love for you, but leave your ass for the next prettiest princess that they deem as singing a sweeter song than you. Life isn’t a fairy tale. You need to realize that now or when you are older you’re going to set yourself up for heartbreak. You need to grow up.”

As soon as she said those words the girl’s steely gaze went watery as she started to cry. Lena realized she was making a show of things as she noticed Eric and Ariel were coming towards them.

Letting out a frustrated sigh she turned, walking away as Eric and the aunt stopped to check on the girl.

Of course they would take her side.

They always took the baby’s side.

____

Lena finally found some people worth talking to. Even the husband was an enjoyable conversationalist. As he told her about his annual basketball seats she skimmed the crowd, her gaze pausing on Eric. He was looking at her as she waved him over with a bright smile.

He was talking with Ariel, turning back to her completely as if he hadn’t seen Lena at all. Her smile faded into a frown. She knew he had seen her.

She told herself he probably wanted to finish his conversation with Ariel then he’d be right over.

_Who is living in a fairytale world now?_

Five minutes later he joined them, not even giving the couple a chance as he only half listened to the conversation and gave super short replies when answering questions. Lena had to make an excuse for them as she directed Eric away from the couple.

“Seriously, Eric, what was that?”

He let out a teenager’s sigh, “I just—I’m tired of you trying to set me up with playmates.”

“Play-what?”

“You’re always trying to find me new friends. I don’t need new friends—I have friends.”

She frowned as she recalled his friends. Luke, the womanizer and Beets, the brain-dead sports fanatic.

“I just think you could do better than them.”

His frown said he did not appreciate her assessment of his friends, “They have been my best friends since college. They help me unwind. I can relax with them. I don’t have to pretend with them.”

Her eyes stung as she wondered why she couldn’t do that for him. She pushed the feeling down, reminding herself that healthy couples needed to learn not to completely rely on one another for everything. It was okay to share some things with other people.

And if she was honest, she wished she had friends like that. All her current friends were people her mother had wanted her to befriend in order to make connections for the family.

Eric might have been onto something, having something with his friends she could not find herself.

“Fine, Eric, if they make you happy, if they help you, I’ll stop trying to force new friendship on you. I just wish you could get better people who aren’t misogynistic stereotypes of men.”

He frowned and she held up her hands, signaling she was done bashing on his companions.

“You know I had to help my mother raise my siblings. My friends help me unwind. They help me forget about my worries and about who I have to be for my family, for work. For you.”

She winced wondering why she had to be one of the things he needed an escape from. Why she couldn’t be his escape?

“I don’t have to put on airs with them,” he continued, not even noticing the pain in her eyes, “Not like I have to with your parent’s country club friends. They don’t know how to get me out of my head like my friends do.”

Deciding not to focus on her own pain she touched his cheek, her voice soft as she told him, “Okay, I hear you. If you need to unwind and your friends help with that—then go on.”

He smiled as he pressed her hand to his mouth with a kiss.

“Luke actually wanted to hang out after this if that’s okay.”

‘Yes, fine. I have things I can work on.”

He gave her a grateful smile before hurrying off leaving her alone. Alone at an event she had only attended to spend time with him.

She tried not to dwell on that as she pulled out her phone, “Jodi can you come in to the office for an hour today? I have some free time and wanted to go over some of the cases.”

___

Lena’s head was down, eyes focused on the clock pieces in front of her when Jodi entered the room.

She had already been working for two hours and was taking a break fixing Jodi’s old time piece. She finished up, holding out the watch to the girl as she said, ‘I finally fixed it.”

Jodi looked at it in wonder a she watched the second hand move around the face, “How did you do that?”

Lena shrugged, “It’s just something I learned in college. It helps me relax my mind.”

“And here I thought your super power was recognizing the difference between original furniture pieces and replicas.”

Lena laughed lightly, “Art history and architecture was another passion, much to my mother’s displeasure.”

Jodi laughed as she put on her watch band. “I thought you had that family picnic with Eric today.”

‘We already did that. He’s hanging out with his friends now.”

Jodi’s brow arched, “You mean Luke and Beets. I thought you didn’t like him hanging out with them.”

‘I don’t. But he explained to me how they help him unwind and I want him to be happy so I’m just going to let it go.”

“You are a good girlfriend.”

She let out a tired sigh, “I wish Eric would think that more often.”

‘I’m sure he does. Why else would he propose if he didn’t think so?”

She wondered that herself. After four years together she wondered if it wasn’t just because at that point they’d beaten out all the things they could out of one another and decided the thing that was left was good enough to keep around. If the thing still stayed together after so much time it might just last forever, so why not put a ring on it.

How unromantic was that?

“Does Eric know about this talent?” asked Jodi as she showed off her watch.

‘It’s come up on occasion. I did pick out most of our apartment furnishings so he should have a hint about the things I like.”

There was a knock on the door as she looked up to see the female bike messenger standing in the doorway.

“Delivery.”

Lena frowned, “Have you always done deliveries here?”

Jodi looked confused as her gaze shifted between the two, looking to wonder how the two knew each other.

The blonde smiled, “I was only recently assigned to this area.”

She set the file down before heading to the door.

Before she could leave Lena called out, “What’s your name?”

The girl paused, smiling as she answered, “Kara.”

Then she was gone as Lena found herself repeating the name like a special treat.

Jodi looked amused as she said, “That was interesting.”

Lena didn’t understand her tone as she said, “While I have you here, what did we decide about the Yates case?”

Jodi answered, continuing to grin as if she knew something Lena didn’t. And she probably did. Lena missed out on most social cues.

Had there been something with the bike messenger she had missed?

She told herself not to worry and focused on her work as she started taking notes. 


	7. Chapter Four Side A

Eric realized that worse than dinner parties was checking out wedding venues.

Like in any other high class situation, Lena was good at acting like she cared as she gushed over the building’s various architectural features. He knew she had to be faking it, who actually cared about any of this stuff. He sure didn’t.

He was sure she sounded pretentious to the venue host as she spouted off words she probably didn’t even know the meaning to. Then she tried to drag him into her lie as she asked him about his opinion on the wedding hall as he made some noncommittal comment about how nice the sconces were.

“Those aren’t sconces they’re--.”

He stopped listening as pulled out his phone and opened a game. Anything to get his mind off this mind numbing discourse.

Halfway through the tour Lena’s own cell phone went off, an alarm to remind her she had to get back to the courthouse. They had taken off their lunch break to see the place.

As she silenced the alarm she reminded him her big case was that day, “I need to go over some stuff before I have to present.”

He nodded, recalling how much money the Henshaw case was slated to make her company.

Wishing her luck he watched her leave before opening the text app on his phone.

‘Would you like to see more?” asked the woman giving the tour.

“Not really.” He turned away, heading out as well as he pressed send, “Hey, Luke, I still have some lunch left. You want to get some wings?”

____

Lena was affectionate when she came home that night, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him deeply.

He smiled when they parted. “What’s that for?”

“I just closed my big case.”

He smiled widely, “That’s great. You must be so relieved to have it done with.”

She smiled, sounding like a weight had been lifted as her shoulders relaxed, ‘I am. I mean—you know how many obstacles I had to deal with to get the verdict. There was that whole debacle with the change of time with the first hearing and then I had to file for a new judge. And--.

“What really?” he set down his briefcase as he undid his tie, “I guess I don’t remember that.”

She frowned, looking upset as she asked, ‘You seriously don’t recall?”

‘No. I thought things were going smoothly with the Henshaws.”

Her frown deepened, “The Henshaws. No. This was the Mendoza case. The one with the woman trying to get her children back.”

“Your pro bono case?” he gave her a confused expression wondering when something like that had become important to her, “That’s what you are calling your big case?” then he realized it was her big case because it was a big pain.

She was glad to be done with it and no longer have to deal with a woman and her annoying children. That would be the only reson Lena would be so relieved to have it over and done with.

Lena looked to have lost some of her joy as he joined her at the bar, wrapping his arms around her waist as he said again, “I’m glad. I know that was a rough case for you.”

She frowned as she pushed him away, “Do you? Do you know how rough it was for me? Or are you just faking it?

“You always get onto me about faking it around everyone, of acting like I care about things that I actually couldn’t care less about, but you are just as bad as me. Do you even listen to anything I say?”

He stepped back, holding up his hands as he let out a, “Woah, where is this coming from?”

“The Henshaw case hasn’t even had a trial date set yet. The one I’ve been telling you about this whole time has only ever been the Mendoza case. I listen to you when you tell me about your big projects, or when you gush about how much of an asset this Ariel woman is to the company. Or how cute her bratty little niece is. You know she’s just a little actress, right? She only ever cries when it gets her what she wants. She’s a manipulative little monster and she has both of you in the palm of her hand.”

His expression hardened as he told her, “That’s no way to talk about a child.”

“Just because she’s a child doesn’t mean she’s an angel. But I still listen to you when you talk about her and all the other things in your life, why can’t do the same for me?”

Before he could defend himself, before he could remind her how everything she’d been talking about had been focused and centered on the wedding his phone rang.

“It’s Ariel. I need to take this.”

She threw up her hands as she moved away, “Of course you do.”

He answered the phone,” Hey, Ariel what--.”

“Eric-I don’t—I don’t know what to do. I just got the call and I don’t think the boss is just going to let me leave for a day. But I can’t just--.”

“Whoa, whoa, Ariel slow down. Start from the beginning. What happened?”

She took a breath before continuing, “My mom was in an accident. My dad assures me she’s fine, that she only broke her hip, but Madison is so worried and I can tell Michael is upset too. Besides me, their grandparents are the only other family they have left. I feel like I should take them to see my mom, but I know we’ve got that big project coming up and I don’t want to--.”

“Hey no, family comes first. I’ll pick up the slack. You just do what you need to so those kids can feel okay again.”

She sounded relived, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of the boss.”

“Okay. I found some tickets for tonight to fly out so I guess I’ll book those if that’s okay.”

‘Of course. Just do what you need to.”

‘Thank you, Eric. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”

After he hung up he was smiling as he turned to find Lena glaring at him.

‘I’m glad you could be there for her, Eric. You’re such a kind soul,” the tone of her voice said otherwise as she turned and stalked off.

He could almost hear Luke’s laugh in his head as he would’ve retorted , “looks like the castle is closed tonight, buddy. Hope that art piece couch is comfortable.”

He let out a sigh as he headed after her.

“Lena, babe.”

____

At work the next morning, Eric’s boss looked less than happy to find out that half the team he’d assigned to the big project was out of town.

‘You two haven’t even finalized the talking points. How could you tell her it would be okay for her to leave?”

“It was a family emergency. I mean, we did just have the family picnic a few days ago, I thought it was important to you.”

‘You know that’s just to keep the ants happy. I don’t care what happens to your family as long as we get this client. Now you get on a plane and you go get her back here.”

“You know I could just call her and ask her to come back.”

The older man shook his head, “No. I want you to drag her to the airport if needed. People say they will come then don’t actually get on the plane,” it sounded like the man was speaking from experience as he told Eric, “Now get a plane ticket and get her back here ASAP!”

Eric wanted to argue but could tell the boss was not going to hear him.

Back at his apartment he held his phone to his ear as he hurriedly packed a bag. On the other end he could hear Lena’s annoyed tone as she said, “I don’t know why you need to travel down to get her.”

“The boss is insisting. That way we can work together on the plane ride back and then continue the work together once we are back.”

“Should I be worried about this Ariel woman?”

He laughed “Of course not. We’re getting married.”

There was a long pause like she was debating on if that was enough of an assurance. But she really had nothing to worry about. He was a good guy.

“Fine. Just—don’t lose focus. The wedding is getting closer and I need your help.”

As if to remind him of this she kept texting him wedding info the whole way to the airport. He put his phone into airplane mode before the flight attendant even had to ask.

____

Though Ariel had known Eric was coming from the way Madison reacted it seemed it was a surprise to her. She hugged his legs tightly, making him shuffle like a penguin as he came into the house.

“Where’s Michael?”

Ariel gave him a warm welcome before offering to take his coat, “He’s up in his room. Mom’s taking a nap now so he’s on the internet with his online friends. He was excited at coming back here, but after only a few hours back he’s gone back to being mopey again,” Ariel let out a tired sigh, the sound of a mother who didn’t know what to do anymore, “I don’t know what’s going on with him.”

“I’ll talk to him; maybe it’s a guy thing.” Eric got the Madison carbuncle off him as he headed up the stairs. Knocking on the door he heard a disgruntled go away. He popped his head inside.

‘Hey Michael.

“Oh, you. Aunt Ariel mentioned something about you coming to get her.”

“She did? From how Madison reacted I didn’t thin--.

“Nope. Ariel told us. Madison just likse to put on a show. She’s such a faker.”

Eric frowned at the words, recalling Lena’s words from the night before.

“Can I come in?”

“Whatever.”

The boy wasn’t on his computer, just sitting in the dark with his headphones on and a sad pout to his lips.

‘Ariel told me this is where you grew up. You don’t seem that excited to be back.”

‘I’m not.”

He studied him closely as an idea formed in his mind, “This is about a girl, isn’t it?”

The boy perked up, “What?”

He nodded seeing he was right, “yeah, I know that look anywhere. You were excited to see a girl, but when you got back things weren’t how you thought they’d be.”

Michael’s eyes widened.

Eric laughed.

“Yeah, I’ve been there too. Tried the whole long distance thing with my high school sweetheart in college. But when I came back she had another guy.”

Michael let out a grunt as he slumped down, “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. She’s dating Robert Carp, the track star. I don’t know what she sees in him.”

“My ex dated the school quarterback. I was devastated. But eventually I moved on and I met an amazing girl.”

“Oh yeah, that Ursula chick.”

Eric frowned, “Actually, no. Lena came much later. But even when my college relationship fell apart I was able to find someone even better than her. Someone closer to the person I wanted to be with.”

Michael didn’t look like he could see that far ahead as Eric patted his shoulder, “All I’m saying is don’t let this keep you down for too long. I missed out on a lot of fun things while I was sulking about my ex. You don’t want to do the same. One of those fun things might be a ski trip.”

‘What? That sucks.”

He nodded, “I even went on the trip and ended up spending the whole time in my room sulking,” he gave him a meaningful look to let Michael know he was doing the same thing now, “Let me be a cautionary tale for you.”

Michael assured him he wouldn’t make the same mistake before Eric left the room.

Aril was downstairs braiding Madison’s hair as she chattered on about ponies and princesses. She beamed as soon as she saw the man. An older woman was sitting in a nearby chair with her leg propped up.

‘You must be Mrs. Tritton,” he smiled as he greeted the older woman.

She smiled back, “I’m sorry I can’t greet you properly. I’m a hugger.”

‘Then I will come to you.”

He came over leaning down so that she could put her arms around him.

She laughed. “What a charmer.”

‘I told you,” stated Madison as Ariel blushed at both of them.

Since the grandma was laid up, Madison put on a one woman show that consisted of song, dance, a performance art piece, and a dramatic reading. It was adorable. And got a standing ovation, sans Grandma, from the crowd.

An hour before he was supposed to leave with Ariel for the airport the news said airplanes had all been grounded due to bad weather.

“The boss isn’t going to like this,” stated Eric as he pulled out his phone to text the man.

When he was done with that he found Ariel’s mom holding a book of swatches.

Seeing him looking at her she told him, “I’ve been getting ready to redecorate my siting room. What do you think?” she held up two swatches. “Which one gives you a more happy feeling?”

He sat down near her as he took the swatches, looking them over as he studied them carefully, “This one.”

She smiled as she took it, “Yes, I thought so too. You have an artist’s eye.”

“Thank you.”

They talked more as she asked his opinion on other samples and furniture choices.

After an hour she told him, “You’ve been so helpful,” she patted his hand affectionately, “It’s so nice when a man shows interest in these things, unlike some men,” she tossed a frown over at her husband as he entered the room to set down a trey of tea on the coffee table, “men who seem to think it’s a waste of time to help with decorating. You live here too, Gerald.”

“What? You’re just going to veto everything I pick in the end,” stated the man as he grumbled under his breath.

Eric smiled good-naturedly as he assured her he was glad to help her. When they finished their tea he offered to take the mugs back to the kitchen.

Ariel found him there as she gave him a smile, “I hope she didn’t bother you too much. I know you’ve already been doing enough of this for your wedding.”

“It’s not a problem. I like your Mom. She is very sweet. Unlike Mrs. Luthor. The way she looks at me makes me think she’s planned out exactly how to kill me and make it look like an accident.”

Ariel laughed, “Wow, puts a whole new meaning on nightmare in-laws.

He laughed with her as they headed back into the living room together.

___

Because he couldn’t fly out that night, Ariel’s parents offered him the guest room. Before he could go to bed Madison came into his room, claiming she couldn’t sleep because of the storm.

“Stay with me until I fall asleep.”

On her way back to her room she got Ariel as both adults laid down on either side of her as she snuggled under the covers while the storm raged outside.

As she drifted off to sleep they got to talking as he checked his phone, seeing he had a bunch of messages from Lena.

“I bet they are all about the wedding, none about her worry over the storm.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Ariel smiled brightly.

He nodded, “Yeah, you’re right, I should read them. Later.”

He set his phone on the nightstand.

“I just don’t get why she is so obsessed with this.”

‘It is a special day.”

‘But it shouldn’t all be about the wedding decorations. It should be about us making a commitment to one another.”

The two commiserated over this as Eric felt himself growing closer to Ariel through the exchange.

Especially when Ariel said, “The wedding isn’t that important.”

“Exactly.”

With that commonality in place he started to complain to her about all the things Lena made him do: “She keeps reminding me about Lady Ashton’s allergies. Wouldn’t it just be easier to not invite her than to worry about all the things she’s allergic to? But no, we can’t do that because she’s “a precious friend of the family.”

He let out a heavy sigh.

Madison stirred as she mumbled, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

As the two adults continued to talk she sneakily grabbed the phone as she took it with her to the bathroom. Then with an unconvincing, “oops” she dropped it into the toilet.

“Good luck enchanting him now, Sea Witch.”

Let out a little snicker before composing herself as she returned to the bedroom as she snuggled in close to Eric.

In the morning the two were still in bed as they came awake smiling at one another. Eric startled when he realized he’d fallen asleep in bed with another woman. Something a good guy would never do.

As he got out of bed he reached for his phone, surprised when he didn’t find it on the nightstand. Bending over, he searched the ground, not finding it there either.

“Where did it go?”

“Who’s phone is this?” inquired Mr. Tritton as he held up a dripping phone, “I found it in the toilet.”

Eric gave the man a confused look as he took the phone, “How did it get there?”

Behind him Madison snuck out of the room before anyone could look her away.

“Here use mine,” Ariel gave him her phone as he called their boss to let him know they were heading to the airport then.

____

Lena pushed a half-naked man out of her apartment. “Eric is coming back. You need to get out of here.”

Enrique Morales turned back, leaning in like he wanted a kiss as she pushed him away, “I said get out.”

Just as he disappeared around the corner Eric came around a different corner as Lena gave him a strained smile.

‘There you are.”

They headed into the apartment together as Eric told her about how his plane had been delayed. She was only half listening as her eyes widened in panic as she noticed a pair of men’s underwear on the carpet of the front room. When Eric wasn’t looking she hurried over, pushing the undergarment under the couch with her foot.

“Did you at least get some work done?”

He laughed at his memory of the trip as he said, “Barely. The kids can be pretty distracting.”

He gushed about them as she nervously laughed while her eyes darted about the room to make sure nothing else had been left behind.

Eventually she calmed down as she completely focused on him, “The way you talk about them you make it seem like you want kids of your own.”

He turned away, letting out a long breath of air as if he’d been thinking about what he was going to say next for a while, “I don’t know, Lena. Spending time with Ariel’s kids makes me think that I just *might* want kids. We were talking about how I used to feel about the idea and how my opinion on it might have changed,” his shoulders slumped as he added, “But I know you don’t feel the same way.”

Lena was frowning when he looked back, “You were talking with her about it? What is this, Eric? You find it so much easier to talk to this woman than your own fiancée? And maybe my feelings have changed as well. But you won’t even take a moment to talk this over with me without deciding how I’ll feel about the matter.”

“Well, do you want kids?”

Her jaw flexed before she went, “No. I don’t want kids. But I thought that was something we had in common. When we met the first thing you told me was that you didn’t want kids. That you’d spend most of your childhood raising your siblings. That desire to not have kids was something that connected us. But now you’re telling me that you’ve changed your mind,” she held up her hands before he could protest, “That’s fine—but isn’t this something we should discuss. You and me. Not you and some stranger.”

Before coming home he’d actually been looking forward to seeing Lena. Had actually expected a warm welcome and a “glad to have you back” instead here they were arguing. Again.

Couldn’t she go a day without finding something to harp him about? He was a good guy, so why did she treat him like the enemy?

“She’s not a stranger.”

Lena’s nostrils flared, “Eric, you’ve only known her for a week. Whereas we’ve known each other four years. In comparison with that she *is* a stranger. But you discuss your past with her and your feelings about kids having possibly changed. Have you forgotten that we are engaged?”

He let out a heavy sigh, “Don’t make this a bigger deal than it is, Lena. I was just venting to her. I have a lot on my plate with the presentation and it was nice to talk to someone else about my worries and concerns.”

Her brow knit as her mouth formed a hard line, “But I’m your future wife, Eric. You’re supposed to discuss those kinds of things with me. I’m supposed to be the one who helps you carry your burdens.”

“But you have your own things to deal with.”

“It’s a partnership, Eric. We both carry the weight together.”

His phone buzzed. A message from his boss, ‘I have to go, Lena.”

He heard her let out a frustrated sigh as he left the room. It was obvious that kids and warm welcomes were two things he could never expect with Lena Luthor. 


	8. Chapter Four Side B

Lena took in an awed breath as her gaze looked up and up at the wedding hall’s various ceiling moldings.

“It’s still as beautiful as the first time we saw it.”

She smiled at Eric whose gaze was fixed on the ground. Her smile faded.

Turning back to the venue host they discussed the various arrangements that had been set up for decorating the hall.

“And there, along the crown molding my mother was hoping to hang some ivy but I know plaster doesn’t have the capacity to hold the weight.”

The woman smiled, “I’ve never had a client know that before. We usually end up having to explain that and it has caused many problems.”

Lena nodded with a knowing smile, “I completely understand.”

They talked a bit more before Lena’s alarm went off.

“I’m sorry. I have to get back to the courthouse. I have an important case today and need to have time to go over things before presenting.”

The woman nodded as Lena told her Eric would take care of things from there. Her smile faltered when she again saw he wasn’t paying attention.

Could she actually leave him in charge?

Checking the time she realized she was just going to have to trust him. She had other things to worry about.

At the court house, Jodi met her past the metal detectors as they walked down the hall together, Jodi reminding her about the various important points of the case. She smiled as she took the file, thanking the girl as they approached the courtroom doors.

Angela was waiting outside, looking as worried as the last time as she greeted Lena tensely. The lawyer squeezed her hand as she gave her a reassuring smile.

‘Today is the day we get the decision. Just answer the questions honestly and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Inside, Lena presented the evidence confidently, questioned the witnesses thoroughly, and appealed to the judge’s sense of justice eloquently. While she was confident of the judge’s verdict, she felt just as tense as Angela as they waited for the verdict. Then it came: Angela would be granted custody of her children with scheduled home visits by a case worker for the next year.

Angela hugged Lena tightly before rushing over to hold her children who hugged her back as they all cried together.

Lena smiled, feeling her heart warm at the sight. She had done a good thing today. Even with all the wedding stress she had put up with seeing this made it all worth it.

“We did a good thing today, Jodi.”

____

Lena sighed as she checked her phone. A long list of messages filled the screen; all from her mother:

_“Check with the florist to make sure they haven’t included any peonies in the arrangements. Remind them Lady Ashton is highly allergic.”_

_“If we’re not going to be using place cards we need to find some replacement. Perhaps glass jars with twinkly lights.”_

_‘No. Nix that last text. That sounds too pedestrian. We don’t want them to think we had to make the decorations by hand like some commoners.”_

_“I found a place that does glass etching. We can etch people’s names into a handheld mirror. That way they can have something elegant they can take home with them to remember your wedding.”_

Lena sighed as she held out her phone to Jodi, “Please take this away from me before I throw it across the room.”

“Would you like me to text Eric about these changes? Let him decide.”

She shook her head. “No. he’s on a plane. He won’t get them.”

“A plane? Where is he going? Does it have to do with his big project?”

She let out another tired sigh, “Supposedly. Apparently his partner had a family emergency so he told her he would take care of things with his boss and let her fly out. But of course his boss wasn’t happy about that and ordered him to fly out and bring her back.”

‘Her,” the tone of Jodi’s voice made Lena look up from the file she was reading, “You’re not worried?”

Lena’s mouth scrunched with a frown, “Why would I be? He proposed to me. We’re the ones getting married. I am the only woman in his life.”

Jodi laughed.

“No. I’m serious When you are in love they are the only one you see. No one else matters. Everyone else is just like a moving slab of clay. You don’t really notice anything about anyone else because the one you love is the only one that stands out to you.”

Jodi held her hands to her chest, ‘Aw, that’s so sweet. I wish I had someone like that.”

“You can find them on your break,” Lena smiled playfully as she held out the file she’d been working on, ‘For now let’s get back to work.”

Jodi laughed as well as she took the file, “If only that were true. My mom keeps wondering why I haven’t found myself a lawyer boyfriend yet.”

Lena frowned, “Your mother shouldn’t be so worried about your lover’s career.”

“You mean like your mom.”

Her frown deepened, “Exactly. For me, I don’t care that Eric is a big advertiser. I couldn’t care less if he was something less prestigious like a--,” her eyes wandered across the room as she spotted a flash of gold outside her door, “bike messenger.”

Jodi followed her gaze, getting a curious expression on her face as she spotted the blonde bike messenger. Kara.

The girl also seemed to sense their eyes on her as she looked back. Lena felt her face flush as she gave her a quick smile before dropping her eyes to the files on her desk.

More quietly, she told Jodi, “Even if he didn’t make a lot of money it wouldn’t matter. I’m not marrying for money or fame, I just want to be happy.”

“Happy and in love.”

Jodi smiled as she got a faraway look in her eyes as if she was imagining that life for herself.

Lena did not join her. Love to her was like one of the little girl’s fairy tale imaginings.

Her feelings for Eric had plateaued a long time ago, like the steady flat line on a heart monitor. Sure, her feelings were dead, but was life really that great to begin with?

____

It was late in the evening when Lena got back home. Without Eric waiting up for her she felt no reason to come back to the empty apartment early.

Looking at the clock she realized he should be on his flight back home. She checked her phone but there was no message letting her know he had gotten on his flight okay.

A thought came to her as she found herself texting, “Are you on your way home?”

There was no reply. Which should have been the case if his phone was on airplane mode.

She got busy cleaning up for the night. When she looked at the clock again she saw it was twenty minutes past the time he should have been home.

“Where are you?”

No reply.

Opening up the airport website she looked up his arrival time to make sure she hadn’t remembered wrong. Eric’s flight was—canceled.

She frowned as she read the report about the storm that had delayed all flights till the next morning.

Another text went out, “Are you okay?”

No reply.

“Did you find a hotel for the night?”

Still nothing.

Finally her phone did buzz, a message from her mother.

Letting out a tired sigh, she set her phone on the kitchen counter as it started to vibrate across the marble top from the influx of messages from the woman.

Seeing the phone dance across the countertop she felt that familiar snap in her psyche as she grabbed her phone. Her fingers pounded the keys as she texted back, “This sure feels more like your wedding than my own,” her thumb paused above the send button.

She didn’t have to send it to know what her mother would say: “Would you rather pay for it? We are willing to pay for you to marry this man, that I never really thought you’d secure, this feels like something you should be grateful for.”

She deleted the message before grabbing the garbage bag from the trash. Tying it up she carried it out of her apartment, down the hall to the trash chute.

As the chute closed she let her head drop back as she asked the tiled ceiling, “Is nothing I do good enough for her?”

She could almost hear her mother’s voice as if she was standing next to her, “You already know the answer to that, Lena.”

“Is everything alright?”

Lena startled before turning to see the bike messenger. Kara.

She was still dressed in her delivery gear, splattered in places with mud from the road, cheeks flushed with the chill night air. It was seeing her dressed so casually that made Lena recall she’d come out into the hall in her ratty old college sweater and yoga pants.

They certainly made a pair.

Feeling self-conscious about her appearance she hurriedly assured the girl, ‘I’m fine.” Before making a beeline for her apartment door.

Kara followed.

“I’m trying to find this apartment,” she held out the package so Lena could see the apartment number printed on it.

Lena paused, taking a moment to look at it, “Follow me.”

She led the way, forgetting about her clothing as her mind focused on the task at hand. It was easier for her to forget about her embarrassment when she had work to do.

Kara thanked her after setting down the package.

She was beaming as she informed Lena, “That’s the last one for the day.” The way she said it made Lena wonder if she was supposed to offer the girl a prize.

A simple “Congrats” was all she could manage to give.

Kara beamed brighter, “Oh, I keep forgetting to ask your name.”

“That’s my fault. It’s Lena. Lena Luthor.”

She looked as if just hearing Lena’s name brought her the greatest joy.

The sight of her reaction made Lena’s heart flutter in her chest. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. A time when she was the most important thing in Eric’s world.

“I should get back to my…” she started to make a move towards her apartment door.

“Some other bike messengers and I are going out to a pool hall to play. I’ve never played before, but they promise it’s fun. Have you ever played?”

The girl followed her like a lost dog as she headed back to her apartment door.

“No. I have not.”

Kara continued to beam like it didn’t bother her at all, “if you don’t have any plans tonight did you want to join me?”

Lena paused, looking at the girl as she studied her closer. She seemed harmless enough. Soft smile. Warm eyes. Muscular arms. Well chiseled legs. Lena shifted her eyes back to the woman’s face as her own warmed.

“I know we’ve run into each other a few times lately, but let’s not make the mistake of thinking that means anything.”

“Oh,” Kara sounded disappointed like Lena had just told her that her favorite ice cream flavor had been discontinued, “Okay. I understand. Well, have a good night.”

In her chest her heart clenched with guilt as she watched the woman shuffle away. She reminded the organ that she did not know her and going out with her alone was not safe. Even if she did seem like a genuinely sweet girl. Best to just stay in, drink some wine, and read that art book she hadn’t even had time to open.

Back in her apartment she did just that, but even seeing the beautiful colored photos on the page did not bring her the usual joy she felt. Instead she found herself wishing to gaze at a different color combination. Something in the shade of cerulean blue with a surrounding golden glow like the sun.

____

Lena’s arms were full with farmer’s market bags. Eric was coming back that morning and she planned on having a nice lunch ready for him.

When she opened the apartment everything hit the ground as she was startled by the sight of a naked man standing in her living room.

She almost wished it was a stranger as she realized the man was Enrique, one of Eric’s coworkers and someone she had—

“What the hell are you doing here?”

She held up her hand to cover his body as he stood tall and proud.

“I heard Eric was out of town.”

“So you broke into my apartment?” she knelt down as she quickly gathered up the fallen food, shoving it back into the bag as she hurried to get inside the apartment so she could close the door before any of her neighbors saw the man and misunderstood.

He sounded confused; she couldn’t look at him, “No I thought we could make passionate love.”

She recalled him having said something similar when he’d confronted her at the family event Eric’s work had hosted. She had been able to avoid him then, but now he was here, in her safe space. Her home.

“You thought wrong. Eric is on a flight back now and this--,” she motioned between the two of them, “is never happening.”

She couldn’t see it, but she knew he was grinning as she told him, “What happened three years ago was a mistake that will never happen again. So get over it and get out of my apartment and my life.”

The man sputtered as she gathered up his clothes, throwing them at him before herding him towards the door.

It had been during a rough patch at the beginning of her and Eric’s relationship. Enrique had been charming and had listened to her complain about the rough spots. That’s how she knew talking about your problems with someone other than your significant other could have dangerous consequences.

She had opened up to Enrique about things she should have discussed with Eric and in her weakness she had spent a night with Enrique. One night and she had regretted it ever since.

Though she told him it was over, a mistake, Enrique kept popping up every not and then to convince her to make another mistake with him. Work events. Family fun days at the park. He was relentless.

She just wanted to forget the past, wipe the slate clean and start a new life.

She realized just how much she wanted that fresh start as she saw Eric coming around the corner just a moment after Enrique had left.

Seeing his face made her heart skip as she greeted him brightly.

“Glad to see you made it back safe.”

He didn’t look as glad as he let out a tired sigh before slumping down on the couch.

Had he seen Enrique?

Did he know?

Had the man finally said something to him at work?

Instead of calling her out on that he admitted something just as bad, “I think I want kids.”

With those words Lena felt like she was completely losing touch with her fiancé. Like the man she had fallen in love with had become someone entirely new. A stranger she did not recognize. 


	9. Chapter five side A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter for Eric and Ariel

The dress shop attendant greeted the women as they entered the shop.

“And who do we have here?” inquired the woman.

Lena motioned to each of the woman as she introduced her bridesmaids, maid of honor, “And this is Ariel, my husband’s coworker.”

Ariel wasn’t sure if it was an afterthought or a jab. Either way, she felt even more out of place as she felt the attendant’s eyes drift towards her with a judgmental expression.

Lena had insisted she wanted Ariel there, to “get to know her better” but from the moment they’d picked her up Ariel had felt like she was being judged. Scrutinized by Lena and her high class friends. On seeing Ariel they’d all exchanged looks like they believed this was an instance of keeping one’s enemies close to ensure they didn’t try anything.

The attendant led them back to the fitting room where the makeup artist and hairstyles did everyone up to help them look how they might on the day of while they tried on their dresses now.

Again Ariel felt out of place as she realized the women had already picked out their dresses, this was just to make adjustments and ensure everything fit perfectly.

She was just standing there awkwardly as Lena’s friends told the stylists about their preferred look for the day.

“Do her up to,” stated Lena as she casually motioned to Ariel, “so you don’t feel left out.”

She smiled at Ariel, an expression that looked strained, like she was already regretting her choice in inviting her fiancé’s coworker.

Ariel was regretting having accepted the invitation as she let herself get made up. Once everyone was done and changed they all gushed over how pretty they looked, especially Ariel.

“Lena, you of course always look pretty, but Ariel, wow, this look really suits you.”

Ariel blushed at the attention as she brushed a strand up hair behind her ear. Past her friends, Lena’s jaw looked tightly set like things hadn’t gone how she’d wanted. Behind her the shop bell sounded as a moment later Eric entered.

All the woman started to freak out as they reminded him, “You can’t see the bride. It’s bad luck.”

Lena shushed them, “It’s fine. I don’t believe in superstition.”

She went over to him, kissing him on the cheek, like one marking their territory.

He smiled, placing his hand on Lena’s waist for a moment as Ariel felt her stomach curl over itself.

“You look pretty,” his eyes shifted past his fiancée, scanning over the others before coming to rest on Ariel. This time her stomach leapt before jittering like a plate of jello, “Wow, you look amazing.”

Lena was frowning as Ariel felt a shy smile light her face.

“Oh, no I don’t look all that great.”

“No. You do. You look like an almost completely different person.”

Lena folded her arms, shaking her head as she left the room looking as if she might scream if she stuck around.

Eric didn’t notice her leave as he continued to gush over Ariel as he asked her questions about her family.

‘Is your mom doing okay?”

She nodded, “She’s feeling much better. She’s started physical therapy today. I’m going to call her tonight to find out how it went.”

He smiled, “That’s good. Let me know tomorrow at work.”

“I will.”

“And how are Madison and Michael doing?”

She proceeded to tell him as the women around them as even Lena’s friends didn’t notice her absence as they took photos of themselves in their outfits as they discussed the upcoming happy day.

____

Lena walked into Eric’s place of work. A few people greeted her; she gave them a curt nod without breaking stride.

She did pause when she spotted a certain red head moving among the cubicles. Changing course she headed over to the young woman as stopped in front of her.

Ariel looked surprised, putting on a quick smile as she greeted her.

Before she could get too far, Lena told her, “I’m sure this doesn’t need to be said, but I want to make sure you haven’t got the wrong idea about all the extra time Eric has been spending with you. Getting this big client has been super important to him but he and I are still getting married. And while you might have some sweet and good qualities that a man might like, Eric is my guy.”

Ariel nodded, looking like she was having trouble swallowing as her eyes glistened with tears.

Looking satisfied at what she’d done, Lena turned and walked away, her smile fading into a frown as she grumbled to herself, “Eric, you are an idiot.”

Stepping into Eric’s office he looked as surprised to see her as Ariel had been.

“Lena, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to wish you luck on your big presentation today. I also wanted to remind you that our rehearsal dinner is tonight. And in case you lose track of time, it’s at seven.”

“I know, Lena. I’m not going to miss it.”

“Just want to be sure. You’ve seemed a little,” her eyes drifted back to the cubicles where Ariel was speaking with a fellow employee, “distracted lately.”

He followed her gaze, frowning, “I’ve just been focusing on work. But soon I’ll be done with that and I can focus all my attention on you, like you want.”

She frowned, “You say it like that’s a bad thing.”

Before he could answer she turned sharply on her heel, her steps clipped as she strutted out of the room. 

____

Eric noticed Ariel seemed distracted as he went over the presentation one last time with her.

“Hey, is everything okay. Is it your mom?”

She shook her head, looking like her eyes were shining as she turned away, “No. She’s fine. It’s nothing.”

Before he could press her their boss entered the conference room. He looked ready to yell at an intern as he told the pair, “The client isn’t coming.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was only going to be in the country for a day. Another company got to him first and he agreed to sign with them.”

Eric felt his jaw drop as he stared at the man, “You’re kidding. But he agreed to meet with us first.”

The boss was bristling with anger as he said, “I know. Goddamn foreigners, they have no sense of honor.”

Before Eric could remind his boss about his sensitivity training Ariel rushed out of the room letting out the start of a sob. He understood the feeling. They had both worked so long on this, put in several hours, and now it was over just like that.

Lena would be happy.

___

Eric felt like a caged bird as he moved about the rehearsal dinner, making polite conversations with each of his guests. All people he didn’t know or like. But from what he’d gathered about weddings that didn’t really matter. Weddings weren’t about the couple, but more about the people attending. The people one tried to impress with all the frippery.

Lena and her mother only seemed to be focused on this as they flittered around the rehearsal hall pointing out all the things that needed last minute changes.

His fiancée didn’t even seem to care that he’d lost the biggest client of the year. But of course it didn’t matter, nothing was as important as making sure the flower arrangements didn’t have any peonies in them.

His phone went off then. Ariel.

As soon as he picked up the girl started talking, rushing through her words as she said, “I got us a second chance but we need to act now. Can you meet me at Barney’s?”

He gave her an affirmative as he hurried off to find Lena.

“I just got a call from Ariel. She says we have a second chance at the presentation. I need to go. I know this is important, but this is just as important. I don’t want to miss out on this big chance.”

She looked stunned as he kissed her cheek, not even waiting for her reply as he said, “Thanks, Babe.”

On his way out he passed Mrs. Luthor who gave him a withering look as if he’d failed her as a human being. He shivered, but continued on, calling a cab as soon as he was on the street.

Ariel was waiting for him outside the restaurant where she caught him up on the situation.

“Mr. Ito hasn’t officially signed the contract with the other company yet. We still have a chance to convince him to sign with us instead.”

The restaurant was part eatery, part night club, with dancers standing on a stage in front of tables. It was like a high class strip club. They found Mr. Ito in a back room, celebrating his visit with some other suited men who tossed dollar bills at a dancer.

“Mr. Ito,” Eric kept his gaze on the man’s face as he greeted him formally, “I’m Eric Prince from AEG Advertising and Marketing. You had an appointment with us today for us to present our plans to advertise for your company.”

The man frowned as he turned to the man beside him. The man started to translate as Eric waited for him to finish.

“Mr. Ito called to let you know he had signed with another company,” stated the translator after Mr. Ito had answered in Japanese.

“We realize that, Mr. Ito,” replied in Ariel in what must have been perfect Japanese from how the men reacted, “But we were hoping you’d give us a chance to make our case for why we’ll be a much better fit for you.”

Eric gave her a surprised look as Mr. Ito discussed something with the other suited men. Finally the man looked back as he told them, “I’ll give you twenty minutes.”

They both thanked the man before they started into a condensed version of their presentation with Ariel doing most of the talking.

At the end Mr. Ito turned to quietly discuss things with his associates. After what felt like an eternity he looked back at the pair as he gave them a slow nod. Eric felt his heart in his throat as he glanced at Ariel, looking for confirmation on what the nod had meant.

His question was answered as the translator said, “Mr. Ito likes your offer much better. We can sign the papers now before we have to leave.”

Eric noticed Ariel’s hand shake with excitement and relief as she handed over the pen to the man. His own body was shaking with a similar mixture of emotions. It was all he could do to keep his cool as he watched the man put their names on the page. Then it was done.

They both thanked the man before leaving them to their final moments of celebration before they had to go home.

Outside the room Eric and Ariel celebrated, jumping up and down as they hugged and cheered. In the heat of the moment, Eric was so overcome with emotion he found himself kissing Ariel on the lips.

They both quickly came apart as he hurriedly apologized, “I got a little carried away. I’m sorry.”

She looked too stunned to reply as he groaned internally. He’d messed up. Lena would be so mad if she found out. And smug. She’d been nagging him about how much time he’d been spending with Ariel.

But he had assured her he was a good guy. Good guys didn’t kiss other women.

“Can we just pretend this didn’t happen? I’m marrying Lena tomorrow and I don’t need her finding out.”

Ariel pressed her lips together, her eyes glistening again like she might cry. “Yeah, of course.”

Her voice sounded choked with emotion. He felt bad, but he couldn’t take back what had already happened. The only thing he could do was try not to let it happen again.

“Eric, Ariel.”

They both turned as they found his friend Luke staring at the pair. From the look on his face it was obvious he’d seen the pair kiss. Eric left Ariel’s side as he hurried forward, grabbing his friend’s arm as he pulled him away.

“What did you see?”

Luke gave him a curious look, “What do you--?”

“You can’t tell Lena.”

Luke snorted, “As if I would ever tell that bitch anything.”

“Luke.”

He let out a tired sigh, “Alright, fine. But I don’t know why you’d want to keep it a secret. You should admit it and let her cancel the wedding.”

“Luke.”

“What? It’s obvious you like Ariel more.”

Eric glanced back at the woman as his friend motioned to her.

“I’m marrying, Lena.”

“So? You’re not married yet. You can totally call it off. You *should* call it off.”

Eric frowned. “I made one mistake, I’m not going to end things over one tiny slip up.”

“What if the slip up was hers?”

He gave his friend a confused look.

Luke looked to regret what he’d said as Eric had to press him, “What do you mean?”

“Alright, fine. One time I was out with Enrique Morales from work and he got really drunk and started bragging about having bedded someone from work’s girlfriend. He gave enough details that I figured out that he was talking about Lena. It was around that time when you were going through that rough patch together. But from the way he talked about it, the affair stopped right after you moved in together.”

Eric felt queasy as he released his friends arm, stepping back for a moment as his head spun.

“It was just a little fling,” stated Luke, “If it had still been going on I would have told you. But I figured it was better to drop it since you had finally asked her to marry you. But now,” Luke motioned back to Ariel, “It’s obvious you don’t love her if you are kissing another woman.”

Eric shook his head, the world around him looking hazy as he felt like he was miles away, “That’s not true. It was a mistake. I made a mistake, she made a mistake, but I’m choosing to move past it.”

“But it’s a mistake you want to make again, right? Come on, man, this is wake up call. Lena isn’t the one for you. Why are you insisting on marrying her when it’s obvious you don’t love her anymore? Just let her go.”

In that moment everything became clear as Eric felt like he’d been splashed with cold water. Frowning he looked his friend in the eyes as he said, “If you don’t like who I’m marrying then you don’t have to come to the wedding.”

“Fine, continue playing the perfect guy, Eric,” snapped Luke, “Play it like you don’t make mistakes like the rest of us mortals. But if you do this, if you marry her, you will be making the biggest mistake of both your lives.”

Eric’s jaw flexed as he glared at his friend, “What do you care what happens to Lena?”

“I don’t, but I do care abbot you, my friend. So how about you get your head out of your ass and do the actual right thing, instead of what you think the good guy would do.”

Having heard enough he turned away, pausing when he reached Ariel’s side as he said, “I should get back to Lena.”

Yes, he’d made a mistake in kissing Ariel, but after hearing about Lena’s own mistake he realized they’d both had their moments of stumbling. But this was not something that should end their relationship. They had lasted this long without having encountered any real road blocks, they could press through this as well.

Ariel’s jaw flexed as she accepted his words as she watched him walk away as they both realized that would be their first and last kiss.

____

The day of the wedding Ariel was out at the open air market shopping with Madison and Michael. Someone called out to her as she turned to find Luke walking towards her.

She smiled.

‘Good to see you again.”

“You too. Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the wedding?”

She frowned, ‘Uh, no, I didn’t get an invitation. What about you?”

Luke laughed, “There’s no way Lena would let me step into her sacred space.”

Ariel gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I guess she felt the same about you or you would be there as well.”

She frowned, “I don’t know what you mean.”

He laughed, “Sure you do. You don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you and Eric look at each other at work. And then there was that “accident” last night.”

She blushed.

“You two love each other,” stated Madison helpfully.

“She’s right you know.”

Ariel shook her head, “He loves Lena.”

‘Does he? Does he really? I’m his best friend and I’ve never seen him smile with Lena as much as he does with you. You two have something special. I think you should at least talk to him about it before he commits himself fully to her.”

Ariel looked torn but Madison egged her on as she finally handed her bag of groceries to Luke as she said, “I need to find a cab.”

He cheered her on as she started running with the little girl hurrying after. They found Michael along the way as he asked what was going on.

“We’re going to win Eric over,” stated the little girl.

“About time.”

The three found a cab as Ariel gave the man the address of the church. Halfway there they met with construction traffic.

“We’re not going to make it in time,” stated Michael as he checked the time.

“There,” went Madison as she pointed out the window, “We can take that.”

Ariel shook her head, “No way.”

Both Madison and Michael started to push her out of the cab as they opened the door, “Yes way.”

Next thing the three were racing through the stalled traffic in a horse drawn carriage. Then the kids were pushing Ariel out before it had even come to a full stop in front of the church.

“Go get your man,” ordered the little girl.

She left them in the carriage as she hurried up the front steps of the church. In the foyer she heard her steps, hollow like her heart, as she hurried towards the sanctuary doors.

As she flung open the doors she heard them bang loudly on the walls as everyone looked back at her. Lena and Eric were already at the front standing in front of the priest who stopped talking as they pair looked back at her.

She hesitated till she noticed Eric watching her. She took a step closer.

“Ariel.”

The way he said her name gave her the courage she needed to take another step closer.

In front of Eric, Lena frowned as she kept a hold of his hands all while shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

Around them the guests started to whisper, but Ariel didn’t hear any of it as Eric continued to look at her like she was the only one in the room. It was the same for her as she stopped at the bottom of the front steps.

“Eric, don’t do this. I love you. I know that we haven’t known each other that long, but you make me happy and I think the same is true for you.”

Lena held his hands tighter as Eric started to take a step towards Ariel.

“Eric,” Lena spoke through gritted teeth as she ordered him, “Don’t do this. Don’t throw this all away for some fling.”

He frowned as his eyes wandered back to the seats where his coworkers sat. Where Enrique specificially sat. Lena’s own eyes followed, hers widening as he said, “You mean like you almost did.”

Her eyes came back to his eyes as she sputtered for a moment, “Eric, I--.”

He pulled his hands free, stepping back as he said, “We’ve both been trying too hard to make this work. It’s time we just let this thing die,” he paused as he realized no matter how much it hurt, the good guy would tell her, “I hope someday you find someone who makes you as happy as she does me.”

With that he turend away completely as he focused all his attention on Ariel. Running up to her he scooped her up in his arms as he kissed her. The audience erupted with sounds of protest and confusion before Eric and Ariel ran out the church together.

Both of them were laughing as they burst through the front doors together. They kept a hold of the other’s hand as they hurried down the front steps as Madison let out excited cheers.

“True love wins again!”

Michael even cracked a smile as the two adults got into the carriage with them.

Just before the driver pushed the horses on the doors to the church burst open again as Lena came outside. Her dress was slightly torn and she looked wild in the eyes as she fixed her intense gaze on the pair, “Eric wait!”

“You lost,” called out Madison.

“We can--.”

A bird called out as a splash of poop landed on Lena’s shoulder. This made the little girl burst out laughing as Eric and Ariel smiled at each other again, leaning in for another kiss as the carriage rode off into the setting sun.

Behind them Lena let out a loud scream but neither of them noticed, they were too in love to notice anything else.

  
  


The End.

For them…

  


(good riddance)


	10. Chapter five side B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter for Lena

Lena was distracted as she walked down the sidewalk.

“Lena.”

She barely heard her name the first time. It wasn’t till the third time that she finally realized someone was calling her.

Turning she found it to be Kara. The woman was wearing a bright smile as she greeted her.

Seeing Lena didn’t look as happy, her head tilted to the side as she inquired, “Is everything okay?”

Lena shook her head, “It’s—it’s nothing I should be discussing with someone I barely know.”

“Sometimes it’s easier to talk about heavy stuff with someone you don’t know.”

Lena snorted, “My fiancé sure seems to think so.”

Kara’s smile was sympathetic, “Hey, if you don’t feel comfortable talking about it maybe a distraction would be better.”

Her eyes drifted off to the side where a group of kids were squealing while jumping through a sidewalk fountain.

Just as Lena started to look over Kara grabbed her hand, dragging her over to the water spouts. Lena let out a shocked gasp as the water hit her while Kara kept a hold of her hand. Lena gaped then shoved Kara as she let out a laugh.

‘What are you doing?”

“Sometimes you just need to let loose and forget about your problems. Just be a kid again.”

Again?

More like for the first time. Lena wasn’t even sure she knew how a kid should act.

As a jet of water shot up Kara put her hand over it, making it splash at Lena. She let out another startled gasp before springing forward as she ran at the blonde. The two laughed and carried on, ignoring the children as they raced through and around the water.

It felt nice. Freeing. Unlike anything she’d experienced before.

As Kara beamed at her she felt a shifting in her heart.

How could she be so nice to Lena? So genuinely caring to someone who had been rude to her so many times?

Eric was nice but even he wasn’t *this* nice.

The two eventually stopped. By that point they were both soaked as they sat on a bench to catch their breath.

“Feel better?” asked Kara as she pushed back wet hair from her forehead. Her hair shone like wet gold in the sunlight.

Lena let out a long sigh as she dropped her head back, “A bit.” She side eyed Kara as the girl wrung out her hair. “You often drag people into water fountains?”

Kara laughed, “Not often. More often my nieces are the ones pulling me into the water.”

Lena frowned at the reminder.

“Hey,” Kara bumped her shoulder, ‘You still not want to talk about it?”

A heavy sigh, “Are you the type that wants kids?”

Kara’s mouth scrunched to the side thoughtfully.

“If that’s too personal--.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve never really wanted kids. I’m fine with being the fun cool aunt to my sister’s kids, but every time I picture my life—there are so many things I want to do—but I don’t ever picture myself doing those things with a gaggle of kids. I do want someone in my life to share in those things, but I don’t need kids to feel complete. I wouldn’t mind having like a dog, or cat, or something more exotic like a lizard or bird. But no I’ve never pictured myself being a human’s mother.”

Lena let out a heavy sigh, “Yeah, I’m the same way. And I thought Eric was too. He’s my fiancé.”

Kara nodded.

“But now he’s bonding with his coworker’s kids and I just don’t get it. Every time we talked about kids in the past he’d always assure me he didn’t want them. But now he’s spending time with them and acting like it’s something he’s always wanted. But I thought we both just wanted a life together sans kids.”

“That can be hard. My sister had a problem like that. She really wanted to be a mom but her ex-girlfriend didn’t want kids. It was just something they couldn’t reconcile and though Alex really loved Maggie she decided it was better to find someone she could love who also wanted kids. Better than trying to live half the life she wanted. But now she’s happy. She and Kelly have two beautiful daughters that I love playing with. But I don’t ever feel at the end of the day like I’m missing something. I don’t need to be a mom.”

Lena nodded thoughtfully as she considered her own feelings. They still hadn’t changed, but if Eric’s had this was something they needed to discuss.

She smiled at Kara, “Thanks.”

The girl smiled back, “Anytime.”

____

Lena invited Ariel with her to the dress shop where her and her bridesmaids were going to have their dresses adjusted. The girls all theorized about the reason Lena had invited the young woman. Theories about keeping ones enemies closer. But Lena wasn’t worried. Her and Eric were in love.

At least, that’s what she thought until she saw the way he reacted to Ariel’s makeover. Suddenly it was like Lena wasn’t even there as Eric focused all his attention on the strawberry blonde.

He didn’t even notice when she left the showing room, pausing at the counter to let them know, “I just need some air.”

The woman nodded as Lena headed out onto the street. But air wasn’t what she really needed. What she needed was for her fiancé to remember she existed.

“You look like you need a cigarette.”

Without thinking she replied, “No, thanks, I quit.”

Then she turned, surprised when she saw Kara standing nearby.

She was smiling brightly as she told her, “You look beautiful.”

Lena let out a disgruntled sigh, “Thanks.”

“You don’t believe me?”

Lena hadn’t thought she’d conveyed anything like that with her tone. Shaking her head she assured her, “That’s not it. I just…” her eyes drifted back to the shop. She couldn’t see the room but she imagined Eric was still there, chatting away with Ariel, not having yet noticed his bride to be was gone, “Apparently it’s not as big a deal if you always put in the effort to look good as it is when you get a magical one time transformation scene.”

Kara laughed lightly, “I think I get what you are talking about. Guys always make such a big deal when you do something different, almost acting like everything before then doesn’t matter.”

“Exactly. But, whatever. I’m the one who decided to always put in so much work into my looks. I’m not meaning to bash those who are more laissez about their beauty routine, or only dress up on occasion.”

Kara smiled as she flipped her ponytail back from her shoulder, “Thanks. I do prefer my natural windblown style.”

Lena laughed lightly, “It probably doesn’t matter, but I do think you look beautiful as well.”

Kara smiled, “It does matter. Thank you.”

The two smiled at each other for a moment then Lena looked back at the shop as she watched Eric and Ariel walk out of the back room together. Still talking, still looking as if they didn’t notice anything else in the world around them other than each other.

Just like how her and Eric used to be.

“If only it mattered to him.”

____

Lena got off work early, deciding she should swing by Eric’s office to remind him about the rehearsal dinner that night. Of course he didn’t seem to appreciate her visit and she ran into Ariel on the way in. Though she shouldn’t have, she found herself making a comment to the girl about how she shouldn’t mistake Eric’s affection for her as anything more.

It was stupid. Juvenile.

But she felt like the girl needed to know. Eric was an idiot for being so oblivious to his coworker’s feelings. It was so obvious she’d fallen for him.

Were her own feelings that obvious?

Would they have reached that same fragile state if Eric had had someone else in his life when she’d met him?

She wouldn’t find out, as she was the one who already had him and no bright red head was not going to sway him from his affections for Lena.

At least, that was what she told herself as she left his offices. What she assured herself as she made her way down the hall to the elevators.

Still her chest ached like it didn’t believe anything she was telling it. Something was wrong and at this point she didn’t know what to do to fix it.

On her way to the elevators she passed the front desk. She almost wasn’t surprised when she saw the delivery girl standing there as she dropped off a package. Kara smiled as she finished up, meeting Lena in front of the elevators.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were stalking me,” a pleasant smile from the blonde that made Lena’s heart ache.

Eric used to joke with her liked this. Used to give her smiles that would make her teeth ache with their sweetness.

She returned the girls smile with an amused one, “I should be the one accusing you.”

The girl let out a laugh that made Lena’s heart flutter. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt in ages. Not since things were still new with Eric.

She frowned at the memory as it left a dull ache in her chest.

Kara touched her arm as if sensing how upset she was.

‘Hey, do you want to talk about it. Or do you need a distraction?”

She shook her head, thanking the girl as she told her, “I have things to do to get ready for my rehearsal dinner tonight. But thank you.” She gave her a grateful smile that felt strained but sincere.

____

Eric was upset when he got to the rehearsal dinner. The big project he’d been working on had been completely canceled.

Lena tried to comfort him, but he kept pushing her away, which upset her, but she knew it wasn’t about her as she finally decided to give him space as she did what she could to entertain the guests so he wouldn’t have to.

As she left one couple, her mother confronted her as she motioned back to Eric, “I don’t know why he’s moping. I don’t care if it *was* a big deal, it’s not like anyone is going to die because he couldn’t secure this client. Doesn’t the man know how to fake it for one night? This dinner isn’t about him. We have guests here who flew across several time zones to be here for your special day.”

“Not my special day. Yours,” but she didn’t say that aloud.

“Mom, don’t be like that. This was important to him. I understand his disappointment. He’ll be better by tomorrow.”

“He’d better be. I don’t want him ruining the wedding day like he is this.”

Lena wouldn’t say he was ruining it, but she knew her mother would not be reasoned with.

“If you had lost your case I know you would have maintained a civil tone with our guests. I taught you better than that. If only his mother had—“

“Mom, stop.”

Her mother frowned, moving onto other things she didn’t like as she made Lena follow her around as she pointed out all the things that needed fixed before the big day. She noticed the smallest of mistakes, chastising Lena for them as if she had been the one to make them.

Lena’s eyes went to Eric who stood leaned against the wall, head down, not even noticing her. Even if he had seen her would he have come to her rescue?

Once upon a time, maybe. Back when he was her prince charming. But their relationship had seemed to have plateaued lately.

Did some relationships have an expiration date for growth? Things could only go so far with a person, like a plant. Eventually you had to change pots. Had their pot finally reached its max capacity? Was that why it sometimes felt like they were falling apart instead of together?

Was she forcing something that was long past due to move on from?

She had thought getting married would be the solution, but was that not enough? Was it best to just split the plant and put them in separate pots before it was too late and they both died?

Eric hurried over then as he told her Ariel had called about a second chance for his presentation, “I don’t want to miss out on this big chance.”

He didn’t wait for her response as she thought to herself, _“I hope you don’t lose out on a bigger chance because you can’t see what’s right in front of you.”_

She didn’t have time to dwell on her own thought as her mother started to complain about Eric having left.

“This is important to him, mother. I’m going to support him.”

Her mother snorted as if that wasn’t something she condoned, “He acts as if you aren’t busy with your own work. Why is his stuff so much more important than you and this? Even *you* with your busy schedule,” she made it sound like a joke, “was able to take time out to come here tonight.”

“This is a big chance for him. For both of us.”

“You should be the most important thing to him.”

“That’s not healthy, Mom.”

Though she said it like she believed it her throat felt tight as she had the sudden urge to cry.

To scream.

Why had her mother’s words hurt her so?

Giving a quick excuse she left her mother’s side as she headed off to the bathroom to be alone.

Usually she felt a snap before she lost it, before she said something that brought little girls to tears. But this time she was the one brought to tears as she rested her face in her hands and cried.

Why did it feel like everything was falling apart? Like she was losing control of everything.

That thought made her break down harder as great sobs rocked her body.

Why couldn’t she be happy?

____

The sinking feeling in her chest had not left her the next day. If anything it had sunk deeper. Even as she put on her dress, even as she had her hair done up, even as her bridesmaids gushed over how pretty she looked it all felt wrong. Off. Like she was just going through the motions. Like it was all pretend. A farce and she was the only one not in on the joke.

As the moments ticked by she felt more and more like she was moving closer to an ending she would not like.

Then it happened, the thing she had dreaded without realizing she was dreading it. The final crack in the whole picture that was her relationship with Eric.

The crack appeared in the form of Ariel as she stood in the middle of the church aisle calling out to Eric about how she loved him.

As he started to respond to the words she held his hand tighter like her life depended on it, “Eric, don’t—don’t do this. Don’t throw this all away for some tiny fling.”

A frown came to his face as his eyes drifted away from Ariel off to a section in the audience, “You mean like you almost did.”

She followed his gaze, feeling her heart startle as she realized he knew as she spotted Enrique leering at her.

“Eric, I--.”

His expression was soft as he looked back to her, “It’s okay, Lena. I don’t hold it against you. We’ve both been trying too hard to make this word. It’s time we just let this thing die. I hope someday you find someone who makes you as happy as she does me.”

Then letting go of her hands he ran down the aisle, startling the audience as he grabbed Ariel, swinging her around as they kissed.

As the two left the chapel, Lena’s mother rose, as she stalked to her daughter’s side, “Lena, do something. You’re embarrassing me.”

Again Lena found herself feeling like crying as she hurried after, feeling a tug at her back as she looked back to find her dress snagged. Behind her she heard her mother cry out in distress, “That was Vera Wang.”

Lena ignored her as her mouth set into a firm line as she pulled at it, ripping it further as she freed herself. She came out the doors just in time to see Eric and Ariel get into a carriage where the two children sat smiling excitedly.

‘Eric, wait! Please. Don’t do this. We can--.”

Something hit her shoulder as she looked to find bird poop on her sleeve. From the carriage she heard the little girl laugh. Eric and Ariel weren’t paying anything else attention as they kissed while the carriage rode off into the setting light.

This time she felt the familiar snap as she found herself screaming as everything she had been feeling since the night before piled on top of everything else.

She had just lost everything she had thought she wanted. Needed. All the years they had built together. All the time she had spent with him. And he was just running off with another woman leaving her with the expensive wedding that she didn’t even want and the things they had planned together.

All of it shattered in a single moment as she found herself standing empty handed. The worst thing was that she was the one left to clean up the broken glass. Even at the end he had left her alone.

Left her with nothing but the knowledge of how much love could change you. Could break you. Making you into something new you hardly recognized at the end.

Was it the same for him?

As she turned back to head inside she heard someone call her name. A hopeful smile appeared on her face, only to fade as she realized the person calling her wasn’t Eric, but Kara.

The girl was smiling as brightly as always as she stood with her bike between her legs. Her smile faded as she noticed the redness in Lena’s eyes and the state of her dress.

“Lena, is everything okay?”

Seeing the girl reminded her of Eric’s wish for her, to find her own happiness. She would like to find that, it was obvious now that Eric was not that person for her. She had just felt safe with him, but she was tired of always playing it safe.

It was all too much as she felt herself breakdown completely as she bawled, “No. Eric just left me at the altar and now I have to go back in there and tell everyone what happened. I—I don’t want to face any of them.”

“Then don’t.”

Her sobs subsided as she gave Kara a confused look like _I have to._

Kara held out her hand to her, “Come on, let them figure it out on their own. This was your day to get married, not to worry about other people’s feelings.”

Lena’s breath shook as she considered her words. For a moment she looked back at the door. Then she nodded, coming down the stairs, stopping as she felt the ripped part of her dress snag under her foot. Taking a breath she reached down, taking a hold of the lower half of her skirt as she ripped off the bottom half.

Just as she started down the stairs again the doors behind her opened as her mother came out.

“Lena Luthor, what are you doing?!”

Lena smiled as she got on behind Kara, putting her arms around her waist as she called back, “For once in my life I’m doing what I want, Mother. Go.”

The woman called for them to stop, but Kara didn’t listen as she pedaled off with Lena, taking her away from the church and all the responsibilities left inside.

As she left it all behind, Lena felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she let out a relieved laugh. Throwing back her head she ripped off her veil, letting it trail behind her before letting it go as it fluttered away.

As it went she felt it take with it her cares and worries and the weight on her chest. A weight she hadn’t realized till it was gone had been with her for years. Finally she could breathe again.

Leaning forward she wrapped her arms around Kara’s waist, smiling as she rested her chin on her shoulder.

“Where do you want to go?

With the question came too many possibilities. So many things she could choose that had been closed off to her before.

But only one thing kept her interest as she said, “I want to play pool.”

Kara smiled, “Then pool we shall play.”

  
  


The screen fades to black as the credits start to roll.

No nonsense Lawyer with a heart of gold played by Lena Luthor

Is he a douche bag or romcom protagonist played by Eric Prince

The clumsy but lovably annoying heroine played by Ariel Tritton

Dashing Bike messenger played by Kara Danvers

The credits fade to a scene set in a pool hall.

  
  


Lena stood at the pool table still wearing her torn wedding dress, her eyes completely focused on the ball she was aiming for. Kara stood beside her, amused smile on her face, arms folded, as she watched the intense way Lena stared at the table.

A pair of guys in polo shirts with popped collars noticed the pair; eyebrows lifting as they exchanged looks at the women’s clothing choices. It didn’t seem to warn them off enough as they sauntered over to the women.

“You girls just leave a costume party?”

Lena didn’t look to hear them as she finally hit the ball, letting out a cheer as the cue ball hit the one she’d been aiming for.

“You ladies want us to teach you how to--.”

Kara cheered with Lena as she told her, “Hit that one next.”

It was obvious neither of them knew how to play, but they didn’t look to care as they were lost in their own world. Eventually the guys left as they grumbled under their breath about how the women had “missed their opportunity.”

The credits resume as a long list of those involved in the production scroll past.

Just when you’re considering waiting for the movie to come out on DVD so you can fast forward to the end, or when you start to pull out your phone to look up if there is anything else at the end the black fades into one final scene.

  
  


And now a preview of for the sequel.

  
  


Disclaimer: The following images do not necessarily portray actual scenes from the movie, but instead are just shown for dramatic flair and my own amusement.

  
  


Kara stands on a golden staircase dressed in a red and blue dress with a sparkling tiara. She smiles softly at Lena who looks up at her with a stunned expression.

“Lena, it’s time I told you the truth..”

  
  


Another scene shows Lena holding up a diamond ring, looking panicked as she pans the ring between two Karas.

“Which one is the real one?”

“It’s me. Marry me.”

“No, it’s me.”

  
  


In another scene the surrounding scenery shows dirt roads, ramshackle houses and Lena dressed in a peasants dress with Kara standing before her in modern garb.

Lena looks panicked as she says, “You’re telling me we’re the ones that caused the black plague?”

  
  


Find out what actually happens in the sequel to the Supercorp romcom: Coming soon! [time being an illusion]

  
  


  


~~Princess for an unspecified Holiday~~

  
  


~~Princess for Winter festivities~~

  
  


~~Princess for a Holiday that has religious undertones that will not be mentioned at all~~

  
  


~~You’re a princess, Kara Danvers!~~

  
  


Name Pending


	11. Deleted Scene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sometimes a scene don’t fit in with the flow of the story, or just don’t fit in the timeline. When that happens I don’t always like to just leave a scene out, so for a scene that fits that description, here is a “deleted scene”
> 
> You can choose whether it’s canon or not.

As hard as she tried, Lena couldn’t focus on her work. If Eric had been home she would have already left, but when he was gone she did not like to come home to an empty apartment.

If she couldn’t work she would focus on something else. Fixing a watch was not the thing. Moving to a new case file did not work either.

Letting out a heavy sigh her eyes drifted over to Jodi’s desk. It was late at night; everyone else had already gone home, including her secretary. The woman had left her music player on her desk. Lena recalled that she mentioned listening to music when she needed to unwind.

Jodi had been trying to get her to listen to Selena Gomez’s new album for months now, “I think you’ll really like it.”

Classical music was more Lena’s style. Music without disruptive lyrics. But she doubted Jodi had any of that on her music player.

Grabbing Jodi’s I-Pod and headphones she turned it on as she started scrolling through her list of albums. When she’d found the most recent album by Selena Gomez she hit play.

The first song that came up was the title track. It broke Lena’s heart as she listened to words that spoke to her aching heart.

  
  


_You’ve been so distant from me lately…_

_It feels like you don’t care_

_Oh, why don’t you recognize I’m so rare?_

_Always there_

_You don’t do the same for me_

_That’s not fair._

_I don’t have it all_

_I’m not claiming to_

_But I know that I’m special._

  
  


After breaking her heart, the next song reminded her she could move on as she found herself tapping her foot along with the beat.

  
  


_Happiness ain’t something you sit back and wait for_

_Confidence is throwing your heart through every brick wall_

  
  


Eventually _Lose you to love me_ came on and she was feeling like Emma Stone eating ice cream to Adele. Then Ring came on and her confidence came back as on her second listen she started to strut about the room as she filed away case notes.

She was voguing to _look at her now_. Bouncing along like she was at a rave to _People you know._

_  
  
_

_What hurts the most is people can go from people you know to people you don’t._

  
  


It was the story of her life.

Then she was spinning in circles to _let me get me._

Lena had to admit Selena did a good job of balancing uplifting songs to bring you back up after the songs that sent you spiraling with reminders of all the mistakes you’d made. All the places you’d let yourself fall short. All the areas you’d stopped fighting and had just given up.

But like Selena’s song said, “I won’t let me get me, take that tired heart and turn it inside out.”

  
  


It was on her third run through, when she’d started to sing aloud to the parts she knew, that she noticed a shape standing in the door of her office.

She startled till she noticed it was the bike messenger, Kara.

The girl was smiling, giving her a greeting wave as she said, ‘I know it’s rude to watch you during your private time, but you were just so dazzling, I couldn’t help but stop and stare.”

She asked if she could dance with Lena who found herself handing over the other end of the headphone as Kara moved in closer so they could both listen, attached by a simple white wire.

Crowded room started to play as Lena felt her face heat as Kara swayed to the music, her eyes closed. Being this close Lena was able to take note of every part of the girl’s face. The way her eyebrows creased as her face conveyed everything her heart was feeling as she listened to the words of the song. The way her cheeks creased when she smiled.

  
  


_It started out polite, out on thin ice_

_Til you came over to break it_

_I threw you a line and you were mine_

_Yeah, I was afraid, but you made it safe_

_I guess that is our combination_

_Said you feel lost, well, so do I_

  
  


Lena stepped back as the ear bud pulled free of her ear.

‘Uh, I should get back to work.”

She motioned back to her desk as if Kara needed reminded they were at the office and not some night club, swaying in time to the rhythm of the music.

Kara nodded as she took out the ear bud, handing it to Lena as she told her, “Have a good night.”

  
  


_Betrayed by your imagination_

_In over my head, but that’s alright_

_So won’t you call me in the morning?_

_I think that you should call me in the morning_

_If you feel the same_

  
  


Shaking her head, she turned her eyes and mind back to her work.


End file.
